


A Genin's Guide to Not Dying a Horribly Painful Death

by Mistress_Kakashi546



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, Badass Baby Ninja, Gen, He's going to have a heart attack by the end of it all, Inner Sakura is both a Voice of Reason and a Crabby Bitch, No Uchiha Massacre, Tiny Pink-Haired Menace, poor kakashi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2020-07-27 09:13:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20043535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistress_Kakashi546/pseuds/Mistress_Kakashi546
Summary: A story in which: Sakura realizes she needs to get her shit together or risk having her body shipped home in a storage scroll, Kakashi recognizes that he needs to treat his students less like children and more like the tiny little killing machines they are, and Sasuke and Naruto figure out the key part of a "friendly rivalry" is the friendly bit. Sakura-centric.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! Mistress Kakashi here with my first ever fic!
> 
> After quite a few years of marveling at the brain children of the wonderful authors on this platform, I've decided to attempt to conceive one of my own.
> 
> While I will not consider this to be an AU fic, as it is still set within the standards of the Naruto universe, it is definitely NOT going to be Cannon compliant. There are a few characters that I find myself tempted to play with for one reason or another and, since Kishimoto-sama has so kindly created the giant sandbox that is Naruto, I find myself not at all guilty in making my castle unique.
> 
> Also cross-posted to FF .net

"He's late."

Sakura barely restrained from rolling her eyes at the obvious statement. The fact that her ass had gone numb two hours into the four that they had been sitting in the stuffy classroom had made her usual bubbly attitude deteriorate to more closely reflect Inner's brash sarcasm.

The rattle of the door made her head snap up. The sight of the blond teetering on a footstool made her groan internally.

"What're you doing, Naruto?!" she snapped.

She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Sasuke had glanced over as well to see what the idiot was up to.

"It'll be his fault because he's late," snickered Naruto from his precarious position.

She tried in vain to ignore Inner's maniacal laughter when she noticed that he had, in usual Naruto fashion, decided to wedge one of the chalkboard erasers in between the door and the frame in an clearly juvenile attempt at pranking their jonin sensei when he finally decided to show up.

**I like this punk! Serves the asshole right for making us wait all this damn time!** Crowed Inner with a fist-pump.

"Jeeze, you're really asking for it," she signed.

Naruto had, for better or worse, developed a reputation for having no regard for higher authority and a ridiculously convenient ability to avoid getting caught when pulling pranks. She was positive Kami-sama's favor would wear out eventually.

"A jonin wouldn't get caught in a such a week booby trap," Sasuke scoffed.

She nearly gave herself whiplash when she snapped her head back around to her other teammate, her long pink hair slapping her cheek in the process. _So he's finally decided socialize now, has he?_ She thought with a faint eye twitch.

The Uchiha had spent his time scowling out the window and apparently trying to test if he could incinerate squirrels with the ferocity of his glare. Though she knew his clan was notorious for its katon jutsu she was unsurprised when his attempts proved unsuccessful and the bushy tailed creatures continued to chase each other around the courtyard.

She tried to contain her satisfaction at his failure, given that he was the Top Rookie and obviously the most desirable teammate out of their graduating class, but he had never giving more than a disinterested hn at her attempts to draw him into conversation since the room had emptied.

However… Sasuke did have a valid point. Jonin were the strongest shinobi their village had to offer. It was inconceivable that someone with years of experience would fall for such child's pla-

** _*Thonk*_ **

Sakura's train of thought was brought to a screeching halt by the sight of a silver head poking through the doorway, surrounded by a small halo of… caulk dust?

Naruto was crouched on the ground, choking on his own laughter while the man, who she assumed to be their all powerful and all knowing sensei, stared incredulously at the eraser on the floor that had dared add white filth to his already ridiculous hair.

_What the hell…? _She was almost positive Sasuke was wearing the same slack-jawed, horrified expression she was. Not only did they make an absolutely phenomenal first impression, but it was massively comforting to know that the man that was tasked with training them to be competent ninja was fooled by a student barely out of the academy.

_And dead last to boot_, she thought appalled.

"S-sumimasen, sensei," she stuttered. "We tried to stop him, but Naruto did it anyway…"

The tall jonin dusted the chalk out of his hair and gazed contemplatively at the three of them. Even with the majority of his face covered by his mask and hitaiate, the tired dropping of his visible eye gave her the sneaking suspicion they didn't come anywhere close to meeting his standards.

"Ah, how can I put this?" He sighed. "As for my first impression of you guys…? Well, I hate you."

_Shit, sometimes I hate being right._

_That was fun_, Sakura thought sarcastically as she sank into the bath that evening. The steaming water helped ease the tension in her shoulders that had developed when Kakashi-sensei announced their "mission" for the next day. Sakura leaned her head back against the edge of tub and exhaled slowly.

She had worked hard, dammit, to pass the academy and it left a bitter taste in her mouth to consider being shipped back.

Not that she was disillusioned to the possibility that her current team was destined to become anything greater than a shit-show. The combination of Sasuke, with his determination to step out of his older brother's long shadow, Naruto, with his dreams of Hokageship, and Kakashi's… whatever the hell his non-answers meant, was bound to get them all killed on their first mission out past the village gates.

**You've got room to talk**, snorted Inner. **You've spent the past how many years trailing after that Uchiha brat? Like a goddamn lost puppy.**

Sakura sighed and stared down at the tiny ripples on the water's surface.

Inner wasn't wrong. Although she had the highest written scores of their year, that was mostly due to her innate desire to learn and retain information. Her overall marks were not helped by her decision to follow the rest of the sheep in their competition for the romantic attention of her dark haired classmate.

In addition to being the second son of a major clan, Sasuke was one of the most advanced students in terms of taijutsu and ninjutsu and thus considered to be the eligible bachelor of their year. It also didn't hurt that the Uchiha were known for having pretty genes.

So when Kakashi-sensei asked them about their dreams and hobbies she had let lingering silences and faint squeaks eloquently spell out where her brain had been focused.

**Ah yes, because twelve year olds should be vying for the privilege of being Mrs. Uchiha**, Inner sneered. **Please save your sorry excuses for someone who doesn't share your brain cells.**

_Alright, fine! I should have been putting in more effort into practicing my katas than painting my nails. I get it! Does that satisfy you now that I've admitted my failings?!_

**Marginally.** Inner said with a smug grin.

_Bitch_.

**I'm a reflection of your subconscious - what that hell does that make y****ou? **Inner replied sweetly.

Since Sakura was now in the privacy of the her home, she didn't suppress her eyeroll as she pulled the bath plug and grabbed her plush towel off its rack. So her priorities had been a bit screwed up the past few years… that didn't mean she wasn't serious in her quest to become a respectable kunoichi. She'd just have to make up for lost time by any means necessary. She nodded confidently to herself as she pulled on her pajamas.

_Yeah, I'll survive sensei's survival exercise tomorrow, cement my position on Team Seven, and then focus on improving my skills._

She flopped down into her bed with a contented hum. How sadistic could the silver-haired man really be?

. _ . _ . _ .

The answer: very.

But now that she thought about it, she was almost certain Kakashi's 'never really thought about my future dream' and 'I have many hobbies' was some sort of secret code meaning 'I have a perverse desire to drive all three of my students to the mental hospital by then end of week so I can go back to doing missions without pre-pubescent leeches hanging off me'.

The good news was she was now five hundred percent more confident in Kakashi-sensei's ability to mold them into competent ninja. The sheer speed, skill, and intelligence he displayed earlier that day made it clear that he was deserving of his title of jonin and the fact that he had done it almost entirely without looking up from his trashy novel had only added to her awe.

The bad news was that she had somehow managed to spend the majority of the duration of the 'survival test' either hiding in the bushes or unconscious.

Even Naruto had shown promise in his ability to at least attempt formulate a plan of attack. And his capability of producing numerous shadow clones certainly seemed to impress Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke had nearly been successful in getting ahold of the damnable bells, not to mention his Katon: Fireball Jutsu had caused a visible expression of shock to cross their sensei's masked face.

_Kami-sama help me_, she prayed. _I'm eternally gratefully to not have to repeat the academy, but at this rate, they'll be lugging my dead body home in a storage scroll if I can't get my shit together._

She leaned back against her bedroom door and groaned as she melted into a useless puddle on the floor. While Kakashi-sensei's test hadn't been physically demanding - at least for her - it had definitely been mentally taxing.

Although she had already started to reevaluate if her childhood obsession with Sasuke had truly been the result of her own desires or provoked by herd mentality, she had still been horrified at the illusion that she was foolish enough to get captured in. And while she knew, retrospectively, that it had not been Sasuke's decapitated head asking for her assistance, the earlier genjutsu-induced trauma had apparently proved too much for her delicate mental state, once again.

Not to mention Kakashi-sensei had them arrive at the training grounds a full three hours before he even bothered to show up. _And_ had instructed them to skip breakfast.

Sakura had the fleeting concern that their jonin sensei had at one time been a member of the Torture & Interrogation Force. The man was certainly capable of making people question their sanity. She shook her head sharply. Now was not the time to be pondering Kakashi-sensei's sadistic nature. There was work to be done.

She dragged herself back to her feet, shed her sweat soaked red dress, and pulled on a long pink sweater over her black undershorts. With a quick splash of water over her face to wake her up, she grabbed her notebook and pen and ran down the stairs. Sakura swiped a granola bar and an apple out of the pantry while yanking on her blue sandals. Calling a hasty goodbye to her mother, she hurried out the front door.

The thick cotton of her sweater was heavy under the still-scorching summer sun, but it was a welcome comfort when she arrived at her destination a few blocks over. Sakura breathed in the sweet smell of ink and paper as she gratefully stepped into the air condition foyer of the shinobi library. While she had already devoured nearly the entirety of the academy library, and a good portion of the civilian one on the other side of town, she had been restricted from visiting this building until she graduated the academy and received her hitaiate.

Sakura hesitantly approached the suspicious chunin at the circulation desk. She noticed he wore his hitaiate on a bandana instead of the usual headband and that his right eye was completely covered by his thick dark hair. Seems like that would impede his peripheral vision… but I guess Sensei would have the same problem and he's still perfectly capable of kicking ass…

"Name?"

She jumped slightly at the man's brisk tone.

"H-haruno Sakura," she managed to stammer out.

**Great, now we're regressing in speech as well as skill,** muttered Inner.

She stood a little straighter when the chunin's eye swept her from head to toe. Though she was wearing mostly civilian clothing, she had kept her kunai pouch strapped to her outer thigh and her headband holding back her hair.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I've never seen you around kid, you fresh out of the academy?" He asked.

"Yes," she nodded. "I just graduated yesterday."

The ninja's eyebrow inched even higher on his forehead and he cocked his head to the side.

"Ya know… we don't get many kids in the library on their first _week_ as a genin, much less on their second _day_."

His visible eye narrowed suddenly. "Who's your jonin-sensei?"

"Hatake Kakashi," Sakura answered stiffly. She didn't appreciate her bookworm status being pointed out so bluntly.

The still un-introduced chunin rocked back in his chair with a wide eye.

"Hatake? Shit kid…" he trailed off and rubbed the back of his head. The creasing of his brow further supported her fear that the gods had not been kind in their decision to deal out the porn-reading ninja as her sensei. Her resolute expression must have made clear that she had no intention of further defending her choice to study in a library while the rest of her team was probably still out enjoying the afternoon, because the brunette finally grumbled and after some shuffling handed her a clipboard to sign in on.

"Just make sure you put the books back on the re-shelving carts. And since you're still a genin, you'll be restricted to the first floor. All books with blue spines are able to be checked out of the library but the rest have to stay in the building."

He eyed her skeptically. "You're limited to ten books or scrolls checked out at one time, so make your selections wisely," he said.

"Hai, thank you Shinobi-san," she replied with a short bow.

His lips finally twitched upward to resemble anything other than a frown. "The name's Kamizuki. Kamizuki Izumo."

Sakura blushed. "Thank you, Kamizuki-san."

"No problem kid," he chuckled and waved his hand toward the west side of the building. "You're probably best off starting on that side - it has the beginner's section and the material gets progressively harder as you move clockwise."

She gave another polite bow and started off toward the end he had gestured to.

. _ . _ . _ .

Izumo flicked his eyes up to acknowledge his partner as Kotetsu strolled in shortly after the pinkette had settled herself at one of the study tables.

"Who's the kid?" The spiky haired chunin asked as he leaned against the counter of the circulation desk, pausing to idly flip through the check-in list. He didn't need to specify which one - she was the only other person in the building besides the pair. Everyone else was out enjoying one of the last pleasant days of summer left in the year.

"Haruno Sakura," Izumo replied. "Fresh out the academy. And one the three brats to have unfortunate pleasure of somehow managing to not fail Hatake's secret test."

"What?!" Kotetsu gasped. "That jackass finally passed a team?!"

Izumo chuckled. "Apparently." He grinned wickedly. "There's gonna be a riot when word gets around HQ. Wonder if we should start a pool on how long it take the kiddies to go crying back to Umino?"

Kotetsu scratched at the bandage on his nose and swiveled to stare at the young girl on the other side of the building. She had her hands buried in her hair as she leaned her elbows on either side of a scroll and appeared to be muttering hand signs under her breath as she struggled to cram the contents into her brain. The air of grim concentration that radiated from her tiny form made him wince in sympathy.

"Definite 'yes' to the pool. Poor kid, he's already making her life miserable."

. _ . _ . _ .

An amused cough made her glance up from scribbling notes. She blinked a few time to clear her burry vision and could finally make out Izumo's smirking face. She furrowed her brow and opened her mouth to ask what he needed- her head snapped up to glance at the clock over his shoulder and her eyes widened in horror when she realized that it was now ten minutes until closing time.

"S-sumimasen, Kamizuki-san! I lost track of time reading and I-," she was cut off by his chuckles.

"Relax kid, I just haven't seen anyone this studious in years." He laughed. "Why don't you choose your ten to take home and I'll help you move the rest of this pile to the carts, huh?" He asked, gesturing to the mountain of texts that was making the table grown in protest. She blushed and murmured her thanks as she quickly began to collect her notes and selected sources.

Sakura saw the chunin pause as he picked up a few of the texts that were scattered across the worn surface of the desk.

"Advanced Genjutsu and Applications for Everyday Combat, Simple Techniques for Delivering a Swift and Merciful Death, Strategy: The Key to Besting Your Opponents - shit kid, you're not one for light reading are you?" He asked incredulously.

She twirled her pen between her fingers and shifted the books in her arms. "Ah, well, you see Kamizuki-san, I picked the first book because Kakashi-sensei caught me in a genjutsu during an exercise today." She admitted glancing down at the table. "I wanted to get a theoretical understanding of the technique he used to try and avoid others like it in the future. The second I grabbed because I figured it would have valid points for ending fights quickly, which would be really helpful because my taijutsu sucks. And the third one is because, well… I'm a paper ninja." She bit out with a quick glance up at the man in front of her.

When the skeptical look on Izumo's face didn't falter, she elaborated.

"I've always been good at using my head to win my battles and figured I'd continue to strengthen my best asset. I don't want to let down my team…" she trailed off. _Or get myself killed. _"The rest," she said waving to the pile, "are an assortment of chakra exercises and low-level jutsu that I thought might come in handy on potential future missions."

Izumo slowly shook his head in exasperation. "Sakura-chan…" He sighed and started again. "I know you're not going to believe me, but the fact your taking the time to put in the effort to improve yourself so soon after a set back is a strong indication that you are nowhere near letting your team down. Just try and take some time to chill and relax, m'kay? If you keep up this pace you'll have read every damn book and scroll we have by the end of the year." He joked. Sakura smiled and nodded her head in agreement and thanked Izumo for his patience before bowing and hurrying out into the night.

As the door to the library closed behind her, the smile slid off her face to be replaced once again by a creased brow.

_Kamizuki-san was kind to give words of encouragement…_

**Psh, that doesn't mean we can afford to slack off,** Inner reminded her.

_I know_, she thought with a grimace. She didn't have time to waste relaxing.

While Iruka-sensei had always praised her written work and even seemed to indicate her scores were the best in the last half-decade, it didn't compensate for her dismal taijutsu and unimpressive chakra reserves, nor for her underwhelming performance during that morning's training with Team Seven.

Not to mention she was from a _civilian _family.

It wasn't as if she was ashamed of her parents per say, but it certainly made becoming a kunoichi all the more difficult. If she hadn't taken advantage of the academy library or her sensei's after-hours practice exercises, she would have been done for. No one at home would be able help her with the skills she needed to be successful in her chosen career path.

Sakura scowled down a the dust her sandals were kicking up.

She didn't have decades of training, breeding, or specialized techniques to rely upon. She was not a member of an established clan like the Yamanaka, Nara, or Aburame. Nor was she in possession of a powerful kekkei genkai like the Hyūga Byakugan or Uchiha Sharingan.

But Sakura also swore to never let her parent's loving support for their only child be squandered. So she read. She practiced. She took advantage of every opportunity to succeed, but dammit if she hadn't fallen short in her own expectations by fawning over Sasuke and neglecting to push herself to achieve the absolute best. To be the absolute best.

**That's all water under the bridge, so unless you plan on jumping off and putting us both out of this misery, I suggest you suck it up and stop moping.**

The pinkette's lips twitch upward into a grin at Inner's scathing criticism and her steps quickened as she approached the warm light of home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please keep in mind this story is NOT cannon-compliant to either the anime or the manga. It will deviate more and more as we go along.
> 
> I intend for this to be a beast of a fic, so rest assured that I will be updating on a regular basis and chapters will be 3,500 - 4,500 words in length. I hope to update on a weekly schedule, with new chapters coming out every Wednesday evening. However, I am painfully aware that I am my own worst enemy when it comes to procrastination and will not promise that life won't get in the way.

Sakura ground her teeth in frustration. _Kakashi-sensei is an asshole_.

**Obviously we committed some gross atrocity in a past life,** Inner grumbled. **I'm thinking mass homicide or something equally horrendous.**

_That's the only logical explanation, _she agreed.

It had been two days since the Epiphany Exercise, as she mentally dubbed it, and she could now state that Kakashi had a phobia of punctuality. He had continued to instruct his pupils to arrive at Training Ground Seven at a miserable hour while he failed to show up any earlier than mid-morning. Idly wondering if he bestowed the Hokage with the same honor, or if he limited his irritating tardiness to his three students, Sakura blew her long bangs out of her face and leaned her shoulder against the middle training post.

She had spent the past half hour watching the sky gradually lighten from a deep indigo to a soft cornflower blue. The air was damp with moisture, the birds were just beginning to sing their morning ballad, and the sun had not yet turned the practice area into a scorching wasteland. It would be have been a tranquil atmosphere if not for the presence of two moronic boys.

**Now that's a bit harsh. I'm sure Sasuke couldn't have earned the spot of Top Rookie if he didn't have braincells, though at this point I agree that they must be overshadowed by his ego or he wouldn't let Naruto goad him into their ridiculous arguments.**

Sakura snorted in amusement as she glanced over her shoulder. The peaceful quiet of the morning was split by the angry voices of her male teammates. She had long given up trying to follow what they were bickering about - it changed from one moment to the next. Without Kakashi around to keep them in line, they quickly dissolved into testosterone fueled discord.

_At least we came prepared today._ Sakura had hesitated to bring such a non-essential item the day prior, but considering that their sensei had no shame in publicly reading porn, she mentally shrugged and pulled a library book from her hip pouch. Settling with her back resting against the post, she resolved to at least be mildly productive while waiting for their sensei to show up.

_Chakra Nature: Types and Combinations_ had been written by a half-senile monk approximately fifty years prior, but it provided a through breakdown of the five major chakra natures, the nine known combination techniques, and tips for "connecting to one's inner energy". An often-repeated suggestion called for extensive meditation, which she had never had the patience or the interest to do so during her academy days.

**He's a fucking monk, what the hell were you expecting him to suggest? **asked Inner in disbelief. Sakura grimaced in defeat and mentally added it her training checklist.

As the monk had lived along the northern boarder of Fire and made frequent pilgrimages through the newly-established shinobi villages, the text presented interesting points on the distribution of the chakra types throughout the five nations. Unsurprisingly, the nations' names corresponded with their population's prevailing chakra type. However, Konohagakure, with it's more lenient immigration policy, had developed a greater diversity and as such was generally considered to be an annoyance during times of international conflict, as the opposing forces could not focus on defending from techniques of a sole nature.

Sakura paused to stare blankly at the pages as her mind started to whirl. If the unpredictability of the nature based jutsu of Konoha's ninja forces had created an advantage over their opponents during times of war, was it possible to recreate the same effect on a smaller scale? A _individual_ scale?

"Mah, Sakura-chan, that must be a fascinating read, but how about we head over to get started on our mission for the day, mm?"

She jumped, startled out of her contemplation. Sakura glanced up to see Kakashi standing in front of her with his hands stuffed in his pockets and his visible eye creased in amusement.

_Damn sneaky ninja._

**That is the goal, right?**

Ignoring Inner, Sakura stood and dusted the grass from her backside. She saw Kakashi's eyebrow raise when he noticed the title of the book she slid into her hip pouch, but he made no comment as they moved to intercept her two still-squabbling teammates. A swift _smack_ to the back of their heads had the boys finally ceasing to verbally abuse one another.

Unfortunately, once they realized who was responsible for their head trauma, they turned their ire onto the jonin.

"YOU'RE LATE, KAKASHI-SENSEI!" yelled Naruto.

Sasuke didn't bother adding his own snide remark, but his glare burned into their unapologetic teacher. Kakashi waved off their irritation with a lame excuse and briefed them on their mission for the day. As she had expected, it was another dull D-rank, which probably meant that she'd be forced to play mediator between her teammates and the client.

The previous day's task of painting a fence for a local business owner had not exactly gone well. Kakashi's lackadaisical attitude had the ability to ruffle even the smoothest of feathers, Sasuke's snobbishness and the Uchiha fan emblazoned proudly on the back of his shirt had earned him a series of sneers, and Naruto's inability to follow the simplest of instructions and subsequent dousing of the client in paint had given her pounding headache by the end of the afternoon.

She was also fairly certain that they had won the questionable honor of being the fastest genin team to earn a negative review from an employer.

Today's mission was helping an elderly woman weed her vegetable garden and Sakura no more optimistic of their chances of completing the deceptively simple job without incident. She was sadly proven correct when they took twice the expected time to finish the task because Naruto and Sasuke decided to turn it into a competition of who could finish their section the quickest and had succeeded in pulling out the woman's medicinal herbs in addition to the invasive weeds.

Kakashi's skeptical gaze and his muttering of "look like weeds to me" had caused their client's face to turn a startling shade of purple and Sakura had genuinely feared that the old lady would have a stroke. After she intervened and calmed the woman down, they were forced to re-plant the delicate seedlings at an excruciating pace while the old bat snarled at them to be careful with her precious herbs and hovered to ensure that no further damage was done.

By the time they had completed their oral debrief with an exasperated Hokage and collected their mission pay, Sakura was ready to go home and to wash off the dirt and relax for a bit before returning to the library to study and finish up her written report.

She was surprised when Kakashi stopped them from shooting off in different directions and said that they weren't yet done for the day.

Chuckling at his student's confused expressions, he explained. "We haven't really had the chance to bond yet. Why don't we grab lunch before starting on the exercise planned for the afternoon. Sensei's treat."

"Bond?" sneered Sasuke. "Why the hell do we need to do that?"

Kakashi sighed and gently patted the Uchiha upside the head with his ever-present orange book, much to her teammate's irritation.

"Have you already forgotten sensei's first lesson?" Kakashi asked in exasperation. His voice hardened with seriousness as he continued. "Your team will be you lifeline when out on missions and the sooner you three learn to trust and rely upon one another, and myself, is the sooner I can start to hope you'll come back home with all limbs attached." A stunned silence met his words.

Naruto was the first to recover from their sensei's sudden serious attitude and hastily suggested Ichiraku ramen as the perfect bonding food. Sakura wrinkled her nose at the suggestion, as ramen had forever been listed as a non-diet food in her mind, but quickly shoved the her hesitations aside.

One of the books she had checked out from the library was a guide to proper nutrition for active shinobi and she was shocked to find that she had been under-eating for the past few years for a girl of her activity level. It turned out the deficiency in calories and nutrients were likely contributing to her inferior stamina and chakra reserves, much to Sakura's horror. While ramen was by no means a "healthy" meal, it did have an abundance of calories that she needed to fuel her body after a long day spent sweating in the sun.

Sakura's casual agreement had Naruto star-struck and at Sasuke's indifferent shrug, he shouted "Dattebayo!" in excitement and tore down the street in the direction of the food stall. The rest of the team continued a more sedate pace, but eventually they were all seated at the counter of the infamous restaurant.

"Oh, ho! Brought some friends today, Naruto-kun?" smiled a kind-looking man behind the counter.

"You 'betcha! This is the team I was telling you about Teuchi-san! I just had to bring them to the best ramen shop in Konoha!" Naruto replied with a grin.

The man, Teuchi, chuckled. "Well its lovely to meet all of you, Naruto-kun here is our number one customer," he stated proudly.

Sakura and Sasuke muttered polite greetings and Kakashi replied with his casual "Yo!" as the owner passed out menus and glasses of water.

After a brief deliberation they placed their orders. Sakura was unsurprised when Kakashi stuck with tradition tonkotsu ramen, but was interested to note he added an extra boiled egg. Naruto's usual turned out be two bowls of miso ramen with extra pork belly. How he could put away two full bowls was beyond her comprehension. Sasuke was a bit adventurous and ordered the garlic miso ramen, which she imagined to have an interesting favor profile.

Sakura was cautious and stuck to the tradition tonkotsu ramen, as it had been a while since she'd indulged in the sodium laden treat but added extra black mushrooms to increase the vitamin total. The food stall was filled with an awkward silence once their orders were collected and Teuchi retreated to prepare the bowls.

Sakura blanched when she realized it was up to her to use her conversation skills to prompt the males into breaking the tense atmosphere. For all Kakashi seemed to support their team development, he clearly had stunted social skills and while Naruto had enthusiasm in spades, she knew his ostracization by a good portion of the village had meant that he had little tact when it came to small talk. She had assumed Sasuke would have been instructed on the finer points of conversation, being from one of the most powerful clans and a member of the main family to boot, but his inability, or unwillingness, to talk had her questioning that assumption.

"So… when is everyone's birthday?" She questioned. At her confused teammates stares, she rolled her eyes and explained further. "If we're going to make an effort to get closer, it only make sense that we make it a rule that we go out for a celebratory dinner on or near our birthdays. Mine's March 28th."

"Mine's October 10th!" cried Naruto.

"July 23rd," came Sasuke's soft reply.

Kakashi didn't seem like he wanted to give his out, but under the glare of his three students he relented.

"September 18th," he finally grunted.

"Oh!" cried Naruto. "Sensei's birthday is coming up soon!"

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye in distaste at the implications of that statement.

"I won't pass up the opportunity of a free meal, but if you three even think about doing anything involving candles, balloons, or, Kami-forbid, _singing_, I will personally make your lives miserable, got it?" He threatened.

**Someone was _clearly_ traumatized at one point. And I don't see how he thinks that's an effective threat,** snorted Inner. **Isn't he _already_ making our lives miserable? Then again, if he doesn't consider daily D-ranks as misery, what the hell do you thing he _does_?**

Mentally shuddering in fear, Sakura was quick to change the subject as Teuchi arrived with their meals. With only minimal encouragement on her part, the team was able to carry on in casual conversation and finish lunch in peace. Though the three genin had tried their damnedest, they never did catch Kakashi with his mask down.

. _ . _ . _ .

Bellies full and energy restored, the team followed their sensei through the winding streets of Konoha as he led them to their afternoon "exercise". Sakura was fearful of what their masked sensei had come up with, given that the last one had resulted in her utter failure.

"Uh… Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm?" he replied without looking back.

"What exactly is this _exercise_?" she asked in trepidation.

He glanced at her in amusement but didn't faulted in his steady pace. "It's actually something inspired by that book you were reading this morning." He answered.

Sakura frowned. She received looks of bewilderment for the boys. She knew they had noticed that she had chosen to bide her time that morning reading, but they apparently hadn't paid any attention to the title.

"Is this going to be mediation practice?" she asked. That was the only training she had gleamed to be recommended by the text. Naruto and Sasuke relaxed marginally at the suggestion.

Kakashi tilted his head to the side in thought. "Mhm, a good guess, but no." The boys tensed back up again. At Sasuke's frustrated huff at his answer, Kakashi turned around and started walking backwards in order to fix them in his gaze.

"How about my cute little students trust in their sensei, hm?"

At the skeptical looks he received, Kakashi sighed. "I promise it's nothing too terribly taxing. And you might just learn something interesting about yourselves." He swiveled back around and effectively ended the line of questioning.

The three genin grumbled softly but contained their curiosity until the group reached the outside of a small, nondescript shop. Kakashi didn't pause he stepped through the door, a small bell ringing to announce their presence.

They hurried in behind him, but stopped in the entry as the door swung shut. Sakura blinked in surprise. Sensei had lead them to a … fuinjutsu shop?

That's certainly what they appeared to be standing in. The walls were stacked high with organizers containing various types of chakra sensitive paper, brushes, ink stones, and multiple colors of inks.

"Feel free to look around, I won't be long," instructed Kakashi. "But _don't_ touch anything." He said with a sharp look at Naruto who had already started to stretch out a hand to fondle the soft-look brush bristles. Naruto blushed and quickly pulled his hand back.

"Yes, sensei." They chorused sweetly. He gave them one final wary glance before he started toward the shop keeper behind the counter.

Sakura joined the boys in pursuing the shelves, arms carefully crossed behind her back to suppress the temptation of grazing her fingers along the items. She was still curious as to what they were doing in the shop. The academy had taught very little on the art of seals, only briefly glossing over the fact that they were used frequently in explosive tags and storage scrolls, as well as a measure of security when transporting important documents.

Iruka had always been adamant that no student attempt to create their own seals without the supervision of an experienced specialist. He had advised that trying to save a few dollars on explosive tags by making their own would in all likelihood result in blowing the entire village to smithereens.

Kakashi was true to his word and after taking only a few minutes to make his purchase - small squares of thin paper - he quickly herded his students together and back out into the summer sun. Ignoring Sakura and Sasuke's curious looks and Naruto's badgering, he shuffled them along to a nearby park before turning to finally address them.

"These," he said holding up the five small slips "are chakra papers. By pushing a small portion of your chakra into them, we'll be able to distinguish your chakra nature and have an idea of where to focus when you three eventually start learning ninjutsu." His lips twitched behind his mask, barely suppressing a smug grin at his students' awed expressions.

He took one of the pieces of paper in between his index and middle finger of his right hand and it rapidly crumpled as he applied chakra to it. Sakura's jaw dropped and Naruto cheered as Kakashi handed out the remaining slips. Even Sasuke looked vaguely impressed.

"As you can see by my demonstration, I have lightning natured chakra. While it is certainly possible to learn jutsu outside of your natural inclination, and many jonin eventually specialize in two, it will be a slower process than if you were attempting to master one of your own nature. Now go ahead, my adorable little students, and let's see what you've got."

Kakashi seemed unsurprised when Naruto was the fastest to shove his chakra into his paper and it promptly split down the middle and fluttered to the ground.

"Naruto-kun here has wind natured chakra. Although more common to Suna, it's not an unusual for Konoha shinobi." Kakashi observed. Sasuke was the next to snap out of his daze and concentrate on his own paper.

Sakura detected a glimmer of amusement in their sensei's gray eyes as the edge Sasuke was griping burst into flame and he yelped - dropping it to the ground in shock. A moment before it became consumed by the fire, the far still-intact corner crumpled as well.

"Sasuke-kun has, expectedly, fire natured chakra - it's one of the hallmark features of the Uchiha clan. He also seems to have lightning as his secondary nature."

"Two chakra types?" Sasuke asked puzzled.

Kakashi nodded.

"Yes, about one out of four shinobi is what we refer to as dual-natured. It'll come in handy down the line as you expand your jutsu collection. Now, last but not least, why don't you go ahead Sakura-chan?" He crinkled his eye at her gently.

Sakura nodded nervously and clutched her sheet tightly as she pushed a minuscule amount of chakra into it. The paper first dampened and then crumpled into a soggy ball.

Her eyes widened in shock. While her lightning natured chakra was not too uncommon in Konoha, _water_ certainly was. Especially as the primary type. For all that Kiri's recent bloody history provoked fear and a desire to flee within its communities, the boarders were notoriously tight - the Land of Water, and by extension the Village Hidden in the Mist, wasn't willing to let other nations potentially profit from their internal conflict.

Kakashi rubbed at the back of his head. "Well Sakura-chan… that's certainly an… interesting combination you have there."

**Fuck, now you've gone and done it. We've been made _interesting_.** Inner spat the final word as if it was a curse. **Nothing gets a head removed faster.**

_Would you stop being so dramatic? We're on a squad lead by the famous Copy Ninja, surely we can depend on him taking the brunt of homicidal maniacs attention… right?_

She turned her attention back to the team in front of her. Naruto had already started to moan how he was the only one on the group with a single nature, somehow completely forgetting about Kakashi, and Sasuke was gazing at her with ill-concealed resentment burning in his dark eyes.

**Oh ho, looks like baby Uchiha doesn't like sharing the spotlight. **Inner grinned wickedly.

Sakura winced. _That's not quite the attention I was trying to get from him._

**Look here you little shit, we've already discussed this. Focus being a better kunoichi. We'll come back to the topic of boys once the voices finish crackling and they grow some goddamn balls.**

Sakura coughed to hide her squeak of embarrassment at the comment. She glanced up at Kakashi and saw that he was regarding her with a frown. His face quickly smoothed when he realized she was looking and he crinkled his eye at her once again.

_It's like he's pulling on a mask._ She mused.

**Doubly impressive considering less than a quarter of his face is showing.** Inner added dryly.

**Pervy-book-reading—sensei probably come to the same conclusion we did. Water nature equals probable Kiri ancestry and thus equals becoming interesting to people you _really_ don't want to be catching the attention of.**

**And interesting equals dead for tiny pink haired genin.**

. _ . _ . _ .

Though Inner's harsh assessment had damped her spirits for the rest of the evening, the next morning Sakura woke up with a brighter outlook. There was nothing she could do to change her chakra natures - and Inner was most likely correct in that they would eventually draw unwanted attention - but that didn't mean she couldn't embrace the unique opportunity presented to her.

Sakura hopped out of bed and threw on her clothes for the day. After a quick but nutritious breakfast with her parents, she headed out the door and in the direction of the library.

Kakashi had instructed his students to once again meet at Training Ground Seven at a unreasonable hour, but as she had no intention of wasting the pleasant morning listening to the boys squabble and since their sensei was unlikely to show up until several hours later, Sakura threw caution to the wind and decided she'd spend her time seeing if she could find any beginner-friendly water style ninjutsu scrolls.

It was still early enough that her sanctuary of the written word wouldn't yet be open, but she had no objection to trying her hand at meditation to pass the time until the chunin assigned for the day arrived.

Settling on the top step of the library's stairs with her legs crossed, her eyes closed, and her hands lightly resting on tops of her knees, Sakura took several deep breaths.

She had glanced through a few texts the previous evening again to reacquaint herself with a few of the exercises outlined and had elected to go with one titled "The Senses". The premise was fairly simple: she would center her focus on each of her senses, acknowledge what they relayed, and then gradually let her awareness fade until it was only a slight tickle at the back of her mind. It seemed to be the safest method to master, as it allowed her to still perceive any threats while clearing her mind.

On her next inhale, Sakura concentrated on everything she could feel. The coolness of the concrete beneath her, slightly damp with the morning dew, the soft pressure of her clothes against her skin, the gentle caress of a breeze on her face, and the tickling of hair on her shoulders. After a few breaths focusing on the sensations, she slowly blew the air out her lungs and her awareness with it.

A slight smile bloomed on her lips as she recognized that the exercise was actually working. While she could still _feel_ everything, it was overlaid by a subtle numbness. Encouraged, she continued on.

On the next inhale, Sakura focused on the smells around her. The fresh grass was fragrant due to the moisture in the air, there was a soft sweetness that she associated with the roses planted in the library's front garden, and the warm sent of baking bread drifted on the wind, no doubt from the bakery two blocks over. More swiftly this time, she centered herself and exhaled through her nose. She could feel herself slipping further into the space where the only things she was fully cognizant of were the silence in her mind and the surging of chakra through her body.

Finally, Sakura focused the sounds she could hear. The gentle swaying of leaves as they rustled in the wind, the twittering of sparrows foraging for worms, and the distant sleepy bustle of the morning market getting underway. With one last deep exhale, she felt a serene smile take shape.

_Now_ she could understand what the crazy monk had been ranting about. This level of internal reflection was energizing. She could literally _feel_ the individual chakra pathways running through her, pooling and swirling at the certain points and rushing quickly through narrow channels in others.

She felt_ powerful_. Like with enough determination she climb mountains, crush boulders with her bare hands, or -

Her eye twitched and her mouth turned down into frown. There were two male voices talking loudly nearby. The sound quickly turned into near-shouting as the pair moved further down the street and closer to her position on the steps.

**Who the fuck is shouting about youth this early in the goddamn morning?!**

Scowling in agreement, Sakura slowly peeled back her lids until she could squint down the road in the direction of the distraction. Convinced that she must be hallucinating, Sakura opened both her eyes fully and turned her head to gaze directly at the forms coming towards her.

There was a man in a hideously green jumpsuit, of all things, and a mini-me trailing not far behind him. Even odder than their matching bowl-cuts was the fact they were walking on their hands.

_What the hell?_

Sakura froze when their gazes fell on her. The pair quickly righted themselves and, with matching blindingly bright grins, were instantly standing in front of her.

**Oh Kami, what sort of demons have we attracted now?**

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone reading hasn't had the chance to try authentic ramen I'm praying for your soul, because I can tell you right now that you are missing out on an essential part of life. There's a local ramen shop that I spend way too much time and money at.
> 
> And if anyone is wondering, my order is the same as Kakashi's. Tonkotsu ramen with an extra egg. Yum!
> 
> Also, I realized I made a slight error in the previous chapter by placing the end of the academy year in late summer, which is nowhere near the Japanese usual of final terms ending in the spring, but then when I went back to the anime, Naruto's calendar appears to be on October in Episode 3? I'm super confused on the timeline, so we're just gonna roll with my original of the end summer.
> 
> Reviews are always appreciated! And feel free to leave your favorite ramen!
> 
> Also, because your comments make me smile, I'll be replying at the end of every chapter to the ones that I have received prior to the posting. The only exception to this rule will be any truly hateful commentary, as I do not believe in giving attention-seekers the response they desire.
> 
> Much love,
> 
> Mistress Kakashi


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura's back collided with the dry dirt and her breath came in pants as she struggled to regain her composure.

Perhaps "demons" was too mild a word.

She groan and rolled over to push herself onto all fours. Pillowing her head on her arms, she mentally berated herself for having falling into this situation to begin with.

"Sakura-chan! Do not be discouraged! You have fought well and displayed a commendable level of youthfulness!"

She raised her head enough to glare out from under her pink locks at the annoyingly chipper form of her opponent in front of her. Even as she lay sprawled on the ground, he was bouncing on his toes and throwing out random jabs.

**Does he ever fucking stop?** Inner's exhausted voice matched her aching body.

"Yosh! My youthful student is correct! You have improved your time from five to eight minutes!"

She dragged her tired gaze to the broad man standing on the edge of the field. The sun was glinting off his teeth and he was presenting her with an encouraging thumbs-up. Her eyebrow twitched in irritation.

"Guy-sensei, with all due respect, three minutes for a week's worth of training isn't very impressive. Especially since Lee-san has barely broken a sweat - and this is our fifth spar this morning." She deadpanned.

His thousand watt smile dimmed slightly and he moved closer to crouch by her dejected form.

"A forest does not grow in a day, Sakura-chan," he said gently. "Nor are taijutsu masters built in a week."

"But I don't want to be a taijutsu master. I just don't want to _suck_." She whined.

He threw his head back and laughed.

"That is why we offered for you to join us in our youthful exercises, is it not?" With a wink and another thumbs-up, he rose back to his full height.

In a fit of insanity, Sakura had agreed to train with the pair when they approached her the previous week. Izumo and Kotetsu had mentioned her when the green duo passed by the front gate on their morning hand-laps. The chunin had apparently been serious when they said they weren't going to let her waste away in the library after the third day in a row she had showed up to study. When Guy and Lee had heard that the "youthful cherry blossom" was intent on improving her taijutsu, they had jumped at the opportunity to pass on their wisdom.

"Yosh! Onto our sets! We shall complete one hundred reps for every minute Sakura-chan has improved!"

"Brilliant, Guy-sensei!" Lee exclaimed with worship shining in his eyes.

Sighing at their never-ending enthusiasm, she straitened her legs out behind her and focused on her push-ups.

Lee and Guy threw themselves down on either side and quickly surpassed her slow pace. They would spend the extra time sparing with one another until she finished and then the three of them would move onto the next set together. Sakura appreciated that they never complained and always made the point to encourage her between the punches and kicks that they threw.

She centered her gaze on the dots of sweat darkening the dirt under her nose as she lowered her body down. Her arms were already starting to ache and the back of her red tank top was plastered to her skin.

To say that training with Konoha's Green Beast was a challenge was a massive understatement. They had already completed three sets of fifty reps of push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, side-kicks, and five laps around the village before they had paused to spar.

And the two males considered _that_ to be a warm-up.

_This better be worth it, dammit._

**Sure as hell will be when we knock Sasuke on his ass during our next spar. He ain't shit compared to Lee.** Inner grinned wickedly.

. _ . _ . _ .

Sakura's days quickly fell into a routine.

Early mornings were spent with Guy and Lee during their warm-up and afterword she would jog to Training Ground Seven to collapse into a sweaty and aching pile. Naruto and Sasuke had given her wide eyed looks the first morning she showed up in such a state - and officially over an hour late, though their sensei had predictably not yet arrived - but when she refused to give more than a short "training" in response to their questions about her appearance they gave up and pouted for the rest of the morning.

She would use the remainder of the time prior to Kakashi's arrival to meditate or read. Conveniently, he would often use her books as "inspiration" for the irregular training sessions he sometimes sprang after they had completed the daily D-rank mission.

On particularly memorable day, _A Ninja's Toolkit: the Essentials and Proper Maintenance_ had the four of them spilling out their pouches and Kakashi cheerfully telling them they had the proper equipment to fight off a rabid raccoon at best. In comparison to his gear it was painfully glaring that their's were lacking; both in terms of volume and quality. Even Sakura - who's pouch was filled appropriately according to the guide - was deemed to have an "insufficient" supply of, well, everything. He was keen to lecture them on the importance of keeping two dozen shrunken, kunai, and explosive tags on them at all time and their blades sharp enough to draw blood at the slightest touch.

**Paranoid bastard, that's double the book's recommendation.** Grunted Inner. **I doubt he's ever without a weapon within reach - probably keeps kunai stashed between his shampoo bottles.**

Sakura spent the majority of her afternoons and evenings holed up in the library writing up her mission reports and combing the shelves for useful texts. Her frequent visits meant that she was now on a first name basis with a good portion of the village chunin and a few jonin who were put on desk-duty for medical or disciplinary reasons. The latter she took great effort to avoid irritating. She had begun to realize that forcibly-idle jonin had the temperament equivalent to that of a dog with it's testicles caught in a mousetrap. She shuddered to think what level her sensei would lower to if forced on bedrest.

It was on the third week Kakashi decided to throw a wrench into her happy schedule.

Sakura was just finishing up her third morning lap around the village when she noticed a small brown and blue creature had taken up residence at her side. She stumbled in surprise and stopped to give it an incredulous look. It was a pug - a ninken if the hitaiate on his head was any indication - wearing a small blue vest.

"Yo."

She let a small squeak at his deep voice. Though she had read about ninken and their advanced communication abilities, it was still shocking for a dog to _talk_.

"Sakura-chan, right?" he asked.

"Y-yes?" she answered with wide eyes.

"Kakashi sent me out to find you," he said while reaching up with his hind leg to scratch behind an ear. "Name's Pakkun. I'm one of the pack. He wants you back at the training ground."

Sakura felt a brief flash of panic - she was twenty minutes late to her sensei's designated arrival time, but she never expected him to actually show up _on time_. She was regularly late by half an hour or more due to her morning exercises with the Green Beast, but had yet failed to beat her tardy sensei.

**Hell, it was bound to happen eventually. Now move your ass! The longer we keep him waiting the more vicious we can expect the punishment to be.**

She gulped and flicked her gaze between the pug and the path she usually took towards the village gates.

"Ummm… I was out here training with Guy-sensei and Lee-san… I don't want them to worry when I don't catch up…" she trailed off.

The dog paused. "Not to worry," he replied. "I'll let them know where you've gone."

"Thank you Pakkun-san! I owe you one!" she called over her shoulder, already running in the opposite direction. By the time she arrived at Training Ground Seven, her breath was rasping out harshly and sweat was dripping down the sides of her face. Sakura stumbled to stop by Kakashi and braced her hands on her knees.

"S-sumimasen, sensei," she panted.

"Mah, all's forgiven Sakura-chan," he brushed off her apology with an eye crinkle. "The boys were telling me all about your early morning training. I'm glad you're making an effort to improve. It's certainly a better alternative than standing around and wasting the morning away comparing egos."

Kakashi cut his gaze in the direction of her male teammates and the smug expressions that she had glimpsed on their faces were quickly replaced by scowls.

**I can't believe those shit heads thought that they could rat us out. Pussies!** Inner snarled.

Sakura let a brief smirk cross her lips and glanced back up at her sensei. He was inspecting at her with his head cocked to the side and appraising look in his narrowed eye. She flushed and looked down. She usually had enough time before he showed up to tame her disheveled state - or at least for the sweat to dry enough not to be obvious that she did not spend the entirety of her mornings diligently waiting for his arrival.

"Fuck Kakashi, it's been what - a month? - since you got the kiddies and you've already managed to rub off your laziness on one of the little shits?"

Sakura startled and glanced up at the new voice that spoke. A tall, dark haired man was lounging against a nearby tree, a senbon clicking rhythmically between his teeth.

"Not sure laziness is the right word," came Pakkun's voice at her feet. She twitched again in surprise. _Dammit, what is his deal with sneaking up on people?_ "Pinky here's been subjecting herself to Guy's tender mercy - probably every morning for the past few weeks if my nose is right."

"Guy?!" the brunette spluttered, senbon dangerously close to falling out of his mouth. She gave him a bashful grin. Kakashi's visible brow arched in surprise and he let out a snort of amusement. Her other teammates shared a look of confusion - they obviously hadn't yet had the pleasure of meeting her enthusiastic alternate sensei.

"By the way Kakashi, we better hurry up and head out or we're gonna miss that deadline." Pakkun reminded him.

"Ah yes." Kakashi said with a tired sigh. Sakura noticed he had a small bag slung over one shoulder and two extra hip pouches attached to his person. He turned to face her and the boys. "Sensei has been called away on a mission. They don't normally pull jonin from their genin teams, but this one requires one of my particular… specialties."

He gestured to the other man that had strolled closer to the group, "Meet Shiranui Genma, tokubetsu jonin. He'll be overseeing your training for the next week or so. Try not to irritate him. He likes to poke people with those senbon."

Kakashi turned to Genma with a mocking smile. "And Genma, please try _not _to kill my students while I'm gone, m'kay? They've just started to grow on me."

**I like how he phrased that - like we're some kind of parasitic moss on a rare bonsai.**

_Mmm… but we're cute and just might come in handy one day so he's willing to tolerate us for now._

"Good luck sensei!" She called after Kakashi's retreating form. "Try not to die!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke rolled his eyes at their antics. Kakashi raised a hand over his shoulder in farewell and then disappeared in a flurry of leaves.

The three of them turned to face their temporary team lead. His eyebrow twitched at their matching skeptical looks and he narrowed his eyes.

"What the hell is a tokubetsu jonin, anyway?" Naruto asked squinting and scratching at the back of his head.

"It means I have a specialization that earned me the rank of jonin rather than going through the usual all-around exam process." Genma replied. Sakura found the senbon ridiculously distracting; it bobbed with his every word.

"What kind of 'specialization'?" Sasuke asked scathingly.

She rolled her eyes at his question. He obviously was not pleased by Kakashi's decision to dump them onto a jonin of unknown renown, while she was simply content with the fact he hadn't left them with a stack of D-ranks to complete in his absence.

"That's classified, brat." Genma growled. She got the distinct impression that he was not taking kindly to her snobbish teammate's interrogation.

"Classified?" Sakura inquired curiously. "Then I take it you specialize in assassination? Or perhaps detaining high-class targets?" She cocked her head to the side.

At his sharp glance she continued, "Well, senbon aren't normally considered to be very useful unless you're trying to distract an opponent - or - if you have an intimate knowledge of anatomy and one hell of an aim - they could be used to quickly kill or incapacitate."

"Wah? Where'd you learn that, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"A library book." She answered with a careless shrug.

"_Really?_" Genma's icy voice made her glance up. "Why don't we head over to the library now? And then you can show me which one." He continued in false cheer.

Her stomach sank as she realized too late that 'classified' also likely meant 'don't want nosey genin to be able to figure out with two minutes of observation'.

**Finally your bookworm nature is coming back to bite you in the ass! **Inner cackled gleefully.

. _ . _ . _ .

The end of an exhausting three days had Genma staring down at a half-empty bottle of sake and the cup beside it, mentally cursing Hatake Kakashi to the deepest pits of hell.

"Hey Gen, Iwashi sent me over after he saw you attempting to drown yourself in alcohol. What's with the murderous aura?" Raido asked as he slid into the barstool at his side. "I haven't seen you in this bad of a mood since we took that last mission to Lightning - and that was after our clint lost his head."

Genma snorted and gestured for the bartender to supply a second cup. "Bastard deserved it. Even the Hokage gave us a pass when it came out he had orchestrated the whole damn trafficking ring that he hired us to snuff out."

He downed his drink and sighed. "You heard I'm babysitting Kakashi's genin team?"

Raido glanced over out of the corner of his eye and gave a quiet "hmm" in acknowledgment as he sipped at his drink.

"Fugaku's youngest and the Kyubi vessel, right?"

Genma rubbed at his temples. "Yeah, but it's actually the _third _team member that's driving me to drink. Haruno Sakura."

"Haruno? That's not a shinobi name."

"Nope." He leaned back his stool to balance on two legs. "Kid's from a civilian family as far as I've gathered. You may have seen her wandering around the village before - the pink hair is pretty hard to miss." Genma rocked forward again and reached out to pour another drink. "But I'm becoming more and more convinced she's a prodigy that's gone under the radar until now."

"Prodigy?!" Raido yelped.

"Yep. Near photographic memory, wickedly good at strategy, insane chakra control, probably a sky high IQ, the whole nine yards. Kid picked up on my 'specialization' with only a two paragraph blurb about senbon from a book she read two weeks ago. She's on track to finish reading every genin-accessible book and scroll in the shinobi library by the new year."

Genma paused to pour his partner another drink. "The academy records show a dismal taijutsu score - just barely passing - but she somehow ended up joining Guy and his spawn on their morning torture sessions and has improved enough in just a few weeks to bloody the Uchiha's nose during yesterday's spar I had them run. The look on his face was hilarious.

When I introduced senbon throwing - don't know why the fuck the curriculum puts such heavy emphasis on shrunken and kunai - Pinky took a liking to them and had the boys beat at target practice by the end of the afternoon. I figure the lighter weight and her smaller grip make them a better fit."

He threw back his drink and Raido was quick to pour him another cup. The defeated looking jonin was obviously winding up for one hell of a conclusion.

"But the real kick in the teeth came this morning. I sprung the tree climbing exercise on them, correctly assuming Kakashi was focusing more on team building exercises than individual development."

Genma sighed again and cradled his head in his hands. "The little shit got it the first try. No hesitation, just _walked right up the fucking tree_. I didn't even realize what she'd done until the boys stopped their bitching long enough to point out that she was missing. She was sitting peacefully on the tallest branch, not a care in the world. Strolled back down thirty feet without breaking a sweat."

Raido snapped his gapping jaw shut and sucked in a sharp breath. "That's some Uchiha Itachi level prodigy shit. Most genin take at least a day or two to get the hand of it and bust their heads a few dozen times in the process."

"Oh no," Genma chuckled bitterly. "It gets worse. I managed not to strangle the little brat for being so nonchalant about the whole thing and figured a quick dip in the river would set her straight. So I walked out onto the surface and challenged her to try her hand at water walking. First step had her sinking up to her shins, and the second to her ankles, but by the third step she had it down."

"_Motherfucker._ How the hell has she gone unnoticed this long?!"

"Wondering the same thing, I wandered by the academy to ask Iruka about her. Apparently, she was a bit of a Uchiha Sasuke fan-girl until she was promoted to genin. But even then, she still got the best written exam scores since Itachi. And I don't even think she was putting much of a conscious effort into it. Not to mention this kid isn't from a clan. She's got no previous training to go off of, it's all just from scratch."

"Do you think Kakashi knows?" Raido asked while rubbing a hand over his tired eyes. He didn't even have to deal with the kid and his head was already starting to ache. Or maybe that was the sake. He poured the last of the bottle into their cups - no reason to waste good wine.

Genma shrugged. "Probably." He squinted unsteadily at the cup in his hand and let out a short laugh. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he does. Doubtlessly trying to ignore the little voice in the back of his head screaming at him to wrap her in bubblewrap and shove her back into the academy. Kami knows he has an idea of were this is headed. As soon as word gets out, there'll be a target painted on her back. Quick promotions. Mostly in the field with her opponents bodies still warm at her feet. First chunin, hopefully jonin, and then shipped right off to the wetworks squad all before her fifteenth birthday."

The duo downed the last of their drinks. Raido waved off the bartender when he gestured at their empty bottle. They did need to be at least marginally function tomorrow after all.

"You gonna support Hatake keeping this on the down low?"

He got received a snort in reply. "For now, hell yeah. He hasn't even taken them a half mile outside the village gates. Kiddies haven't had their first kill yet. No way in hell am I gonna rush painting her hands in crimson."

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

"Genma-sensei, are you feeling alright?" Naruto asked.

"I'm fine, brat." He grunted, squinting at the sun's bright rays. "And I thought we talked about this - don't call me sensei. Makes me feel old."

"Senpai, I have some anti-inflammatories in my first aide kit that may help your hangover if you-"

"Hangover?!" Sasuke interrupted Sakura's polite offer and his sharp voice made Genma flinch in pain.

She received a scathing look from the jonin as he sighed. "Perceptive little shit." He muttered under his breath. Sakura merely grinned innocently.

His gaze swept over the three of them. "You little demons drove me to seek comfort in the warm bosom of alcohol. So yes, Sasuke, I'm a _tad bit_ hungover. Which means I'm not in the best of moods this morning. And if you don't keep your snotty-ass opinions to yourself, I'm gonna stick this senbon right-"

"My youthful former teammate!"

Naruto and Sasuke jumped like startled cats at the sudden shout.

Sakura remained unflinching in the face of the crazed enthusiasm of Konoha's Green Beast as he shot forward and attempted to scoop up their temporary team lead. His forward progression was halted by a senbon to the throat and another aimed at his - _ahem_ \- family jewels. Genma's usual blasé expression was twisted into a fearsome snarl.

"Guy, I swear to Kami-sama, you're obviously spending too much damn time walking around your hands, because the reverse blood flow is _clearly_ killing off your fucking braincells. For the last _fucking_ time, _respect the MOTHERFUCKING bubble._"

"Good morning Guy-sensei," Sakura said calmly, choosing to ignore the threatening position he was being held in and her teammates' terrified expressions. "Sorry I haven't been by for training, but Genman-senpai is much more punctual than Kakashi-sensei. And much less forgiving of tardiness."

"_This_ is the guy you've been training with, Sakura?" Sasuke asked doubtfully.

**He just can't fathom this is the same guy who helped you improve enough to knock him on his ass.**

"Mm-hm, him and Lee-san."

"Sakura-chan! My youthful student!" She was not quick or skilled enough to dodge Guy's bear-hug. She let out a gasp as her ribs creaked in protest. The tiny amount of air remaining in her lungs was forced out in a huff as she was engulfed on the other side by an equally crushing force.

"Sakura-chan! Guy-sensei swore that you had not abandoned us, but I feared you would not return!" Lee had tears of joy pouring down his face.

"Oi! Hands off - she's our teammate!" Sakura was surprised when Sasuke was the first to demand her release.

"Dattebayo! Or we'll make you!" Naruto shouted angrily.

**Territorial little bastards.**

"Guy-sensei. Lee-san. I suggest you put the kunoichi down before she suffocates."

Sakura sucked in great gasps of precious air as she was unceremoniously dropped. She managed to save her pride by landing in a low crouch instead of on her ass in the dirt.

She glanced up at the newcomer and fervently hoped the blush on her checks would be attributed to her momentary lack of oxygen. _Pretty… _Mentally shaking her head at her traitorous hormones, Sakura straightened and brushed the non-existent creases from her dark pants and tried to regain her dignity.

"Thank you for your assistance Hyuga-san." She bowed slightly.

The dark haired male's shoulders tightened and he narrowed his eerily pale lilac eyes at her.

"Have we been previously acquainted?" He asked stiffly.

She cocked her head to the side and her lips twitched into a slight smile. "Not to my knowledge. But your clan has a very distinctive look; I _was_ in the same graduating class as Hyuga Hinata."

He continued to frown at her. "Do you often memorize the defining characteristics of clans?"

"Kami-sama! Neji-kun, stop being a jerk!" A small, bun-wearing girl had wandered up and was glowering at him with her hands firmly fisted on her hips.

"Only the main clans of Konoha." Sakura said in response to his question. She gave a polite bow again to Neji and then to the kunoichi.

"Haruno Sakura. Pleased to meet you." She gestured to her teammates standing behind her. "Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. We're Team Seven in addition to our sensei, Hatake Kakashi."

She pointed to the bandana-wearing brunette that was still fighting off Guy's attempts at physical affection. "Genma-senpai is filling in as our team lead since Kakashi-sensei was dragged out on a mission."

As she had expected, her introduction forced the Hyuga to drop his hostile posture and dip into a textbook-perfect bow. "I am Hyuga Neji - as I'm sure you already discerned. This is Tenten," he said indicating to the girl at his side, "and I understand you are already familiar with our teammate, Rock Lee." She smiled in victory.

**Sakura: 1 - Neji: 0**

"Sakura-chan," Naruto whispered. Or at least she think he tried to, as his voice was still loud enough for the other genin to hear. "Why the hell are big bushy-brows and mini bushy-brows wearing matching green spandex?"

"I have no earthly idea." She deadpanned.

"Neither do we." Tenten said. Neji rubbed a hand across his eyes as if contemplating their terrible fashion choices physically pained him.

"Alright brats! Enough chit-chat!" Sakura looked up to find Genma scowled down at them. "Team Seven desperately need to improve their stamina. So I've arranged a small boot camp to whip your asses into shape." He hiked a thumb in the other jonin's direction. "Guy is Konoha's foremost taijutsu specialist and, as we were on the same team in our genin days, he has graciously offered his own students to join in on your suffering."

"Suffering?! This will be an exercise in the powers of youth and perseverance!"

**Yeah right.**

. _ . _ . _ .

"You're an ass, Hatake."

Kakashi dragged his tired gaze from the pages of his book to the male at his side.

"While I'm fairly certain your opinion of me has remained consistent over the years, is there anything in particular I've done this time to provoke you?"

Genma scowled at him and the senbon in his mouth bobbed in irritation.

"Hell yeah." He huffed. "You forgot to mention you acquired your students straight from _hell_ instead of the academy. Little shits have been driving me nuts all damn week." The was a faint flicker of affection in his eyes - in direct contrast to his tone - before they turned frosty and narrowed.

Kakashi remained impassive even as Genma leaned close to hiss at him. "And you _sure as hell_ didn't warn me about the genius pink-haired demon."

"I see." The Copy-Nin muttered as he turned back to his book. He cursed Genma's big mouth as his dark haired teammates tensed in front of him. At least it was late enough that they were the only ones within hearing distance.

"Why don't you guys head on home? I'll give the Hokage our mission report. I'm sure Sasuke will be excited to see you, Itachi."

"Hai, taichou." Itachi gave a short bow and then he and Shisui veered off in the direction of the Uchiha compound.

Genma raised an eyebrow at the title as well as the quickly departing jonin pair and slid his gaze over Kakashi's attire. All black and missing the usual green flack vest. He frowned.

"What the hell are they doing dragging you back into ANBU missions? You just got out for fuck's sake _and _you're a jonin-sensei now."

Kakashi sighed. Though the team had stopped to stow their signature chest guards and masks, it wasn't surprising Genma had caught on as a former member himself. "Well, you know how it is… once you're in, you never really get to leave. The Hokage needed this mission completed on a time crunch."

"I'd say so." Genma snorted in reply. "He sent you with the Uchiha Duo. Near guarantee for mission success, if a bit of overkill with the three of you combined."

Kakashi made a noncommittal noise in response and Genma let the subject drop. ANBU was classified and even if they could discuss the mission, it wouldn't be something either male would want to linger over.

"Back to that kunoichi of yours. I take it you're not planning to get her tested?"

An icy fist closed around his heart at the suggestion. "No," he snarled. Genma flinched in surprise. Being taken out and then unceremoniously put back in the porcelain mask had left Kakashi's emotions reeling. Pulling in a breath he softened his tone. "No, I'm not."

The senbon wielder held his hands up in surrender. "I sure as fuck wasn't gonna suggest it, I swear." Kakashi sighed and frowned unseeing down at the worn pages of his novel as they continued to wander through the streets in the general direction of the Hokage tower. It was getting too dark to read anyhow.

Testing meant formal evaluations. Formal evaluations would go on her record and, with the results Kakashi expected, she would be pushed to advance far more quickly than she was ready. Far more quickly than _he_ was ready. He hadn't been lying when he said he was starting to grow attached to his team.

"I _am _going to test her abilities, but informally. Under the radar."

Genma gave him a look of frustrated pity. "That'll only work for so long. And if you keep coddling her, she's not gonna make it when push comes to shove. They'll stick her tiny ass out in the field with a blade in her hand and orders to paint the ground red, damn the consequences. She'll break."

Kakashi flinched and closed his eye.

"Not just her, the boys too." Genma plowed ahead. "Especially if you plan on entering them in the fall exams - there's less than six weeks before they start. If you want the brats to come out alive, you better get your ass moving."

Giving Genma a sour look, Kakashi sighed in resignation and rubbed at the back of his head.

"Mah, fine. I get it."

The ever-present senbon rolled in a languid circle as the tokubetsu jonin smirked in victory.

"So how are you planning to test her? I've been dying to know how much a brainiac the kid really is, but it's not not like you could just spring an exam on her, she'd know what's up."

The formerly smug shinobi glared when he receive a dismissive eye crinkle in response to his question.

"The weekly jonin meeting is still on for tomorrow, right?"

"…yeah…" Genma muttered, brow furrowed in confusion.

"Then I've got it under control."

. _ . _ . _ .

Sakura rolled out of her bed, feet tangled in the sheets and a kunai gripped her hand. Blinking sleep from her eyes, she tried to identify what had woken her so unexpectedly. It was Sunday and she had finally thought she'd have the opportunity to sleep in after the beating her body had taken over the two day boot camp with Guy that Genma had so kindly volunteered her team for.

** _*Tap, tap, tap*_ **

She swung around and gasped in shock. Kakashi was - for some inexplicable reason - perched outside her window, visibly shaking with laughter at her disheveled appearance.

She rushed forward to throw the widow open. "Kakashi-sensei! I hadn't realized you were back in the village!" The smile she gave him was genuine. As much as she loved irritating Genma and cataloging the different ways his senbon danced as he snarled at them, Kakashi was still her favorite team leader.

"I just got back in late last night, Sakura-chan," he chuckled. "I know Genma promised you guys a day off, but I was wondering if you wanted to tag along with me to HQ? I wasn't able to wake the boys, so it'll just be you and me. There's a jonin-only meeting at ten o'clock, but that should still give me an hour or so to show you around."

Her eyes sparkled in excitement. Only chunin and jonin were allowed in Headquarters unaccompanied and she was anxious to satisfy her curiosity. "Hell yeah!" She blushed. "I mean… I'd love to, sensei. Just let me get ready real quick."

_Genma's foul mouth has started to rub off…_

**Not like you don't curse in your fucking head.**

_That's you._

**And I'm you, remember? Same shit.**

Sakura rolled her eyes as she fished a pair of black pants and a long-sleeved red top out of her dresser. She hurried to the bathroom to change, brush her teeth, and throw her hair into a long braid over her shoulder.

Since starting to take her training seriously, she had made a conscious effort to bare less skin. It made the small cuts and multi-colored bruises that decorated her arms and legs much less conspicuous. And the braid kept her hair out of her face, plus it could be twisted up and pinned in place with a senbon in just a few seconds.

Dumping her pajamas into the hamper, Sakura was quick to cross the hall back into her room and strap on her hip and thigh pouch. She jumped up onto the windowsill and closed the window softly.

Her parents had been appalled when she had initially started hopping out her window and using the rooftop pathways to travel the village, but had quickly stopped complaining when she pointed out that she would likely wake them by using doors - what with her leaving before dawn and often not returning until close to midnight.

Sakura noted Kakashi's stare as she used chakra to scurry up the side her home to join him on the roof.

"Genma taught you three how to tree-walk?" he asked.

She nodded. "I also learned water-walking, but the boys haven't yet got the hang of it."

His eyebrow twitched. "And how long did that take you?"

"For both?" she asked with her head cocked to the side. "Well, tree-walking I got on the first try, so like ten seconds? And then water-walking probably took me another three to five minutes. Genma-senpai spent most of the day entertaining himself by having me dodge senbon while standing on the river's surface. I ran out of chakra by lunch though."

Kakashi's shoulders slumped and he muttered faintly under his breath. She assumed is was something foul directed at their temporary team lead.

"Is something the matter, sensei?" she asked.

"Nothing to worry your cute little head over, Sakura-chan. Come along."

Kakashi led them at a reasonable pace across the village towards the shinobi district and dropped down to street level as they reached their destination. Sakura followed closely, eager not to loose sight of her sensei in the bustle of the crowd. As they headed up the front steps, she barely stopped in time to avoid running into him as he halted suddenly.

"Asuma. Fancy seeing you here." Kakashi drawled casually.

Sakura peered around her sensei's tall frame. He was addressing a broad, olive-skinned male leaning against the front of the building, smoking a cigarette. She followed the trail of smoke up to his dark eyes that were regarding her curiously.

He snorted in reply to Kakashi's comment. "Not really. Though you are - shockingly - early." He nodded his head at her. "One of your kiddies?"

"Yep." Kakashi settled a gentle hand on her head and Sakura tried to suppress her scowl at the patronizing gesture. She was only marginally successful, judging by the twitch of his lips behind the mask. "This is Haruno Sakura. Sakura-chan, I'd like you to meet Sarutobi Asuma. He's the jonin-sensei for Team Ten."

Sakura stepped around and gave a courteous bow as she muttered a greeting. After straightening, she noticed a younger male eyeing her sleepily from the bearded jonin's shadow. She blinked in surprise and a small smile flittered across her face as she dipped her head in acknowledgement. "Hello, Shikamaru-kun. You're looking well."

A light blush dusted across the spiky haired genin's cheeks as he mumbled an inaudible reply. Asuma rolled his eyes heavenward and rubbed a hand across his face.

"How can you be this _lazy_? Say a proper hello, for Kami-sama's sake. Mind your manners, Shika. They're essential for everyone, but especially when you address cute girls."

Shikamaru turned even redder and let out an indignant squawk as he glared at the older male.

"Mah-mah, let's head on in, shall we?" Kakashi chuckled awkwardly. Sakura agreed quickly and followed her on sensei's heels as he lead the way into the cool building. They left the other two standing out on the front step, likely arguing if the sounds she heard were any indication.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes, Sakura-chan?"

"Have I told you I'm grateful you're my sensei?"

She received a short bark of surprised laughter in reply.

. _ . _ . _ .

As Kakashi dragged her around to the lounge, council room, study, and other semi-public places she was allowed as a genin, Sakura noticed they were getting an assortment of shocked stares. While she was sure they made an interesting pair, there seemed to be more to it than their unique hair colors.

"Kakashi-sensei?" she asked quietly. "Do you know why people are looking at us funny?"

"Mmm? Oh, probably because of the betting pool that someone started. I've never passed a genin team before and they all figured you'd call it quits in the first week and beg Iruka to take you back."

"What?" she asked flatly.

"Well, it certainly doesn't help that you look absolutely adorable and delicate, Sakura-chan." Kakashi said with an eye crinkle.

Sakura ground her teeth in frustration. _Adorable? Delicate? What the hell do they think I became a ninja for? To sit a on a shelf and look pretty?!_

**Don't get your panties in a twist about it. One of these days the assholes are gonna regret ever doubting our abilities.** Inner muttered threateningly with an sharp gleam in her eyes.

_They sure fucking will._

She noticed they had wandered back into the main lounge after completing the tour. Shikamaru and Asuma were seated at a low table in one corner and Kakashi led them over. The youngest male flushed as she approached but quickly turned his attention back to the game board in front of him.

Sakura and Kakashi took the two remaining floor pillows and settled themselves at the table. "Have you ever played shogi, Sakura-chan?" her sensei asked.

She shook her head. "I've read a bit about it, but I've never actually played."

Shikamaru's head snapped up in shock. "What do you mean you've never played?!" He asked in astonishment.

Asuma laughed lightly. "Not everyone is obsessed with strategy games as you are, Shika-kun." He said, reached up to light a fresh cigarette. He leaned his head back to leisurely blow out the smoke and then back down to frown at the game in contemplation.

"How about you watch us play this game and then you two kiddos can go at it when the jonin have their meeting, huh?" He suggested. "Shikamaru is already on his way to kicking my ass anyway."

"Sure, sounds good to me." Sakura agreed. She raised a brow slightly at Asuma's long-suffering tone and guessed this wasn't the first time the Nara heir had beaten him.

Sure enough, within the next ten moves Shikamaru had claimed victory and Asuma and Kakashi rose to join their colleagues. Kakashi gave her shoulder a little pat as he passed and muttered "good luck" softly.

Sakura doubted she would have much success beating the other genin given his clan's reputation for producing geniuses, but the continued sharp glances she was receiving from the scattered jonin in the room had sparked a fire in her belly.

**Let them stare.**

"Do you want me to go over the rules?" Shikamaru asked.

She shock her head. "No, it's fine. I remember them." _More like I have the rule book in my head. Photographic memory comes in handy sometimes._

Shikamaru cocked a brow at her, but didn't argue. "You can go first then."

Sakura nodded and reached forward to make her opening move.


	5. Chapter 5

Sakura maintained a flat expression, but inside she and Inner were dancing around, shouting in glee.

Shikamaru had straitened from his lazy half-lounge and was now sitting forward, gaze flittering between her poker face and the board in between them, with his fingers interlaced under his chin and lips pressed together in a frown.

_We may not yet have won, but we've certainly not lost either._

She was at a severe disadvantage, but he had made the mistake of taking it easy on her in the beginning and was paying for it now. If he just overlooked her general on right side of the board for a few more moves…

The sound of the meeting room doors opening had her glancing up as the the jonin began to trickle out. _Wow, I can't believe it's already been an hour…_ At the sight of a familiar silver head, the puzzle pieces clicked together in her head and she snapped her head back down to stare at the board.

**Fuck.**

She tried to keep her expression calm as Shikamaru glanced up at her sudden movement. Her mind was racing and her palms broke out in nervous sweat. _Fuck, fuck, FUCK._

How the_ hell_ could she be so stupid and let her ego cloud her judgement so easily? Who in their right mind would expect a pink-hair nobody to hold their own - or _beat_ \- the Nara heir in a game of _strategy_? Resentment curled in her belly at the realization that her sensei was the one to put her in this predicament in the first place.

**Enough. How the hell do we lose - and quickly? You know, besides flipping the goddamn table?**

Sakura focused her gaze on the general she had previously been so desperate for Shikamaru to overlook. Her eyes bore a hole into the piece as she waited for him catch on.

His shoulders stiffened suddenly and he let out a soft scoff.

**Bingo.**

_Sorry, Shikamaru._ She winced internally as he reached forward to counter her as expected. _One of these days we'll play a fair game. Preferably somewhere less public._

. _ . _ . _ .

"She threw the game." Disbelief colored the blond's voice.

"Mmmm, not quite." Dark eyes scanned over the board as he analyzed the pieces. "My son may be a fool, but he still would have won. By a _very_ narrow margin."

They had wandered out of the meeting room just in time to catch the expression of shock and betrayal flit ever so briefly over Sakura's face. Shikaku noticed Kakashi wince out of the corner of his eye.

"Wasn't Ino-chan close to her in the academy?" Choza's deep bass rubbled from his other side.

Inoichi rubbed at his jaw and sighed. "Yeah they were close, but every time she came over they flipped through fashion magazines and gossiped. And by end of their academy days, they had grown apart - something about a boy." His voice lowered. "I sure as hell wasn't looking for _this_ \- Ino may not always be aware of her surroundings, but she would have mentioned something about her childhood friend being a genius."

"Hm… how troublesome." Shikaku observed how her green eyes flashed in irritation at her sensei as he and Asuma approached the pair. She was clearly displeased with his deception.

"Do you think anyone else has noticed?" Choza asked.

Inoichi let his eyes roam around the room, cataloging the different faces and expressions he came across. "No. We were one of the first ones out the door, so we caught more than most did. Shika-kun won and I don't think anyone else realizes this is still the game they started just before the meeting. For all they know, this could be the second or third time she's lost."

The Akimichi grunted in satisfaction. "Good. Last thing the kid needs is for the Hyuga or the Uchiha to get word of her abilities."

"No, but it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on her ourselves, would it?" Shikaku suggested.

Inoichi laughed. "I'm certainly not opposed. Besides, Shika-kun seems to have fallen in love." He teased.

With an exasperated huff, Shikaku realized Shikamaru was staring up at the kunoichi with a dazed look on his face as she suggested that they should play another game sometime soon. At her bright smile, he nodded unsteadily in agreement and followed her with his eyes as she hurried after her sensei.

"Kami-sama, save me from a son so easily seduced by intelligence."

. _ . _ . _ .

"That wasn't very nice, sensei." Sakura pouted up at the tall jonin as they ambled away from HQ.

"Mah, forgive me Sakura-chan." Kakashi said, scratching at the back of his head. "I didn't expect that you would be playing for so long. And the meetings almost always drag on for more than an hour."

She rolled her eyes at his lack-luster response and frowned down at her shuffling feet. "Were Asuma-sensei and Shikamaru-kun in on it too?" She couldn't quite keep the anguish out of her voice.

Her sensei sighed and gently settled his hand on top of her bent head. "No, Sakura-chan. Asuma figured it out after you two started your game - and he had some choice words for me - but Shikamaru-kun had no clue. I think he genuinely appreciated having someone to play with - Asuma says his other teammates have no patience for shogi."

"Oh." Sakura brighten back up. "I enjoyed it too."

Kakashi chuckled. "I'm glad. Now how about we pop into that tea shop and grab some dango? Sensei's treat for tricking you."

"I supposed I have to forgive you if you're resorting to bribery." She teased.

. _ . _ . _ .

"GODDAMN IT, KAKASHI-SENSEI! I CAN'T TAKE ONE MORE STUPID D-RANK MISSION!"

Sakura couldn't help agreeing with the knuckle-headed ninja, but did he have to be so loud about it?

In the week since Kakashi had returned, they had fallen back into the previous routine, with only minor adjustments. Sakura still met up with Guy and Lee for morning training, but her teammates chose to train with each other at Training Ground Seven to avoid the "green spandex demons" as Naruto called them, and they would meet up in the mid-morning to be greeted by their ever-tardy sensei with a green D-rank mission scroll in hand.

He took the evenings to have them improve upon the skills that they had learned from Genma. The boys were still working on perfecting their water-walking, but Kakashi had continued to test her speed and stamina by taking up Genma's target practice exercise and throwing kunai and shrunken at her while on the river's surface. After Sakura had exhausted her chakra, which still only took a few hours, much to her annoyance, he would have her dive to the bottom to collect the sunken projectiles until the sun had sunken behind the horizon and she could no longer pick out the shining metal from the riverbed's dark silt.

By the end of the day she was aching and soaking wet, but still made an effort to prop herself at her desk to go over her books and scrolls after washing off the smell of river-gunk. At the very least, the grueling routine let her flop into bed after an hour or so of reading and fall into a deep sleep in seconds, but it _was_ becoming tedious.

When Kakashi smiled under his mask, Sakura eyed him warily as he pull a scroll from his hip pouch. "It just so happens you're in luck, Naruto."

The trio's eyes widened in shock. The scroll in his hand was _yellow_, not green.

_C-rank._

"I managed to convince the Hokage that you three are ready for a bit of a challenge. Now C-rank normally means a ten to thirty percent chance of encountering trouble, but this one should be on the low end of the spectrum since it's your first. And, of course, sensei will be there with you. I'll keep you kiddies out of any conflict." His chuckled at their stunned expressions. "I'm giving you guys the day off to go home, collect your supplies, and go over the mission details. The trip should take a few weeks, so make sure to pack accordingly. And try to call it an early night, we have to meet the client at the gates at dawn."

He passed out the other three copies of the scroll he had stashed and waved before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

There was a moment of silence before Naruto let our a whop of victory.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and gazed down at the scroll in his hand. He frowned. "Wasn't he supposed to go over the mission details with us?" He asked.

"That's the usual protocol, but you know Kakashi-sensei. He's not really a stickler for the rules." She sighed.

"Who cares?! We got a C-rank!" Naruto suddenly froze and look of panic spread across his face. "Wait! A few weeks?! What if where we're going doesn't have ramen?! Oh, Kami-sama, I not gonna survive." He took off in the direction of Ichiraku's, leaving the two of them in his dust.

Sakura shared an exasperated look with Sasuke. "He never changes, does he?"

He snorted in reply. "No." Waving the scroll in hand, he jerked his head towards the south side of the village. "I'm heading home to see if my brother or cousin are around to give any pointers. See you tomorrow morning."

"Mmm, let me know what they say."

He grunted and nodded in acknowledgement and shoved his hands in his pockets as he headed out.

Sakura turned and started home as well, eager to share the exciting news with her parents.

. _ . _ . _ .

"Land of Waves?" Mebuki Haruno asked. "Isn't that near the Land of Water?"

"Yes, but they are an independent nation. Why?" Sakura frowned at the nervousness in her mother's voice.

The older woman tucked her long honey-blond hair behind her ears as she turned back to the stove to finish making dinner. Sakura had stopped by the library to look up any information about the small island country they were traveling to and had burned more time than expected pursing the texts.

Not that she had found anything productive. The Land of Waves was still too newly established for any of the books on the genin level to have any useful information, though she was certain that the chunin texts on the second floor, or at the very least the jonin texts secured in the basement surely did.

Her father's heavy sigh brought her back to the present. He settled himself across from her at the table. His dark gray eyes were focused on bottle of beer in his hands that he slowly spun.

"Oka-san is just being a little superstitious."

Her mother's green eyes narrowed and she whacked the back of Kizashi's head with a wooden spoon. Ignoring his grumbling and turning back to her daughter, she addressed the earlier question.

"Obaa-sama, your father's mother, was always adamant that he never travel anywhere near the Land of Water. She never gave a specific reason, only stated he would be in danger. Though you were still an infant when she passed, she made sure to mention that that rule would apply to you as well, as his daughter."

Sakura blinked in surprise. Her parents rarely mentioned her paternal grandmother. And to learn they had adhered to the superstition for so long shocked her further. Her parents were merchants and as such frequently travelled to other nations to conduct trade. She had never questioned why they only made the journey to Stone, Lightning, and Earth, as it was common knowledge that it was much more dangerous to travel to Water and not nearly as profitable.

Her father leaned back in his chair and scrubbed his hands through his short red hair. "Don't mind us, little cherry blossom. We know this is an important step in your career and we _won't interfere_." He said with a stern glance in his wife's direction. She huffed in reply and shuffled back to the kitchen to bang around pots in anger.

He winced and sighed again. "Your mother and I knew when we chose to support you in becoming a kunoichi that you wouldn't be able to pick where you travel. Just… please be careful."

"I will, I promise Oto-san."

"I know you will, sweetie." His eyes softened. "Oh, and don't forget we're taking a trip to Lightning while you're gone. We should be back just after you get home."

Sakura nodded in understanding and stood to help her mother set the table. A glance behind her saw that Kizashi had grabbed his wife's hand and squeezed it in apology for his harsh tone. The melting of Mebuki's flinty expression indicated that the incident had already been forgotten.

. _ . _ . _ .

For once Kakashi wasn't late.

Not that it did much to improve her mood. The bitter, drunken client made sure of that. She was just glad he was around to keep her - or the boys - from killing the fool before they made it out of Fire.

The man - Tazuna - had forgone the usual polite greeting and, once establishing that they were indeed the team assigned, had proceeded with insulting them.

Sasuke was deemed to much of a stuck up ass, Naruto a weak little shrimp, and Sakura was _obviously_ naturally better suited to the kitchen than the battlefield. She had wanted to strangle the sexist pig for the last comment.

Kakashi had wisely decided to step in and explain that, while they were still genin, he was a qualified jonin and would be handling any _real_ threats that came their way, subtly positioning himself between the client and his seething team in the process.

"Fine." Tazuna huffed. The bottle in his hand sloshed, already half-way empty even given the early hour. He had stumbled out of the gates and the four of them followed.

With a few words, Kakashi instructed them to form the usual guard formation around the client. Naruto was in the lead, Tazuna a few steps behind him with Kakashi close at hand to counter any threats, and she and Sasuke took the rear, ready to shoot forward at any sign of danger. It also - conveniently - placed Kakashi as the only person close enough for the bridge builder to attempt to converse with.

Sakura walked a little closer to Sasuke and lowered her voice to a near whisper. "Did you get any pointers last night?"

Sasuke sneered at the back of Tazuna's head. "Yeah. Itachi said not to let the client die."

"How disappointing."

. _ . _ . _ .

The first two hours went by peacefully. And then it all went to hell in a hand basket. Her first clue that this was not going to be a standard C-rank was the puddle they came across. At first, she wasn't too concerned… until she stepped in it. The surface didn't ripple, nor did her sandal come away wet. _Fuck. _Sakura then recalled that it hadn't rained since the previous week. _Double fuck._

She glanced up at Kakashi and saw that he was watching her closely. A slight twist of the fingers of his left hand - one of the standard hand signs they were taught in the academy - had her continuing on as if nothing was amiss, but her heart was pounding in her chest.

Sakura glanced over at Sasuke and Naruto to see if they had noticed.

Naruto was clearly oblivious to the danger they were in as he was loudly cataloguing the various plants and animals they came across, focusing mostly on their edibility. Sasuke was walking calmly at her side, hands shoved in his pockets and eyes focused ahead. Her stomach sank as she realized he hadn't recognized the puddle as a genjutsu - if he had, his hands would be hanging loosely at his side, ready to grab his weapons at a moments notice, as her's and Kakashi's were.

She was only left in limbo for a few minutes and then sharp, bladed chains shot out of the ground and wrapped around her sensei's torso, trapping his arms against his sides. With a tug of the chains, the two opposing ninja cut him into pieces.

Or at least would have, if he hadn't used a substitution justus at the last moment.

**That absolute motherfucker! I can't believe he thinks now is the appropriate time to give us a fucking test!**

She joined Inner in cursing him viciously in her head as the pair turned their attention to the genin, but focused their eyes on the master bridge builder.

_They're trying to get us out of the way. It's _him_ they really want._

Sakura had only seconds to prepare as they rushed forward, trying to intercept her and Naruto, who they had evidently deemed the easier targets._ Fools._

Sasuke - wisely - moved to assist Naruto, who had frozen in panic.

She pulled three senbon from her thigh holster and used them to pin the chain to the ground and save herself the trouble of having to dodge the wicked-looking weapon. With a roundhouse kick to the chest, her opponent was torn from the chain and skidded to a halt a few feet away. He paused only momentarily in surprise at her attack, but that was all the opportunity she needed.

Sakura had followed his momentum and was quick to pin his right clawed arm with her foot and attempt to slam the hilt of a kunai into his temple. He dodged - unfortunately - and twisted his arm under her foot in an effort to throw her off balance, but she had been training_ too damn hard_ for _too damn long_ to let him get off so easily.

She let herself fall forward, as if she wasn't quick enough to anticipate his dodge, and just when he had armed himself with a kunai of his own, she bashed his left temple with the knee of her opposite leg. He dropped like a rock.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that Sasuke and Naruto had also successfully subdued the mist nin they faced, though the latter still looked a bit shaken up.

"Ah, my adorable little students, I'm glad to see training has paid off. Good job."

Sakura's eye twitched. Her male teammates glared up at their suddenly-in-one-piece sensei. Tazuna looked absolutely baffled by the sequence of events and slumped against a nearby tree.

After checking his student over for injuries, they had avoided anything more serious than minor bruises, the Copy Ninja turned to the client.

"Now then Tazuna-san. It seems you weren't quite honest when placing that mission request. You put in that you wanted a standard protection unit to defend against robbers, thieves, and other minor nuisances. You failed to mention that you were being targeted by shinobi." Despite his relaxed posture, Kakashi addressed the other man with a steely tone.

"These two here," he said, gesturing to the restrained mist nin, "are chunin level. Though my students were successful in taking them down, I don't appreciate you concealing information and putting them at risk. If you had requested protection from foreign ninja, this mission would have been classified as a B-rank at minimum and you would have been provided with a team better suited to the task. For an additional fee, of course.

As it stands, I'll assume that you or your town do not have the financial ability to fund such a mission, hence the predicament we find ourselves in. I will need a few moments to discuss this with my team and we will decide if this mission will continue as planned."

Tazuna grunted in reply and headed a few dozen feet further down the road, out of hearing range, but still within sight.

Kakashi turned and faced his students.

Naruto was the first to speak. "Sensei, if he can't afford the proper protection unit like you said, should we really leave him to face more of those guys on his own?" There was a mixture of pity and anger dancing across his face.

"…I don't want to go back either." Sasuke agreed. "We took this mission, so we should see it through."

Sakura gazed at her teammates in disbelief. _Are they trying to get us killed? We might have done alright this time, but there's no guarantee that next time we won't lose our heads._


	6. Part One

Sakura was certain that Kakashi intended to keep his promise, but she started to seriously doubt his ability to do so when the Demon of the Hidden Mist showed up.

As they had traveled towards the coast, Tazuna had finally revealed the nasty details of his predicament. He was being hunted by a powerful business tycoon - slash drug lord - named Gato. The bridge Tazuna was in charge of building would link the island nation to the mainland and break Gato's stranglehold on the economy. This of course led to a considerable amount of money being spent to prevent the construction from being completed.

Unfortunately, given that the Demon Brothers they had encountered four days prior were chunin ranked, it was expected the next ninja sent after the bridge builder's head would be a jonin. But S-ranked missing-nin seemed to be a bit of an overkill in Sakura's opinion.

Then again, Gato sounded like a man unwilling to leave any chance that Tazuna would escape death once more.

She had barely restrained herself from strangling Naruto when he flung a kunai unexpectedly into a bush a few meters from the edge of path just as they had begun their day of travel. After too may peaceful days in a row, Sakura had expected their good luck to run out soon. When it turned out to be a rabbit, she had started to relax, but Kakashi's suddenly still profile made her guard go back up. He was gazing suspiciously at the small, fuzzy creature that Naruto was attempting to comfort. Though his hands remained in his pockets, his shoulders had lost their lazy slouch.

_What does he see that I'm missing?_

Sakura sucked in a sharp breath and her eyes darted around trying to pick up any movement in the nearby foliage. Her hand hovered nervously over her kunai pouch and she rolled her weight onto her toes. Sasuke's dark eyes caught her shift in posture and he adjusted his stance as well, though she wasn't sure if he had come to the same realization.

It was _white_. Snow rabbits weren't white in the summer. It was raised indoors as a substitute and Naruto wasn't as foolish as she had originally thought if he had sensed someone hiding in wait. But a substitution jutsu didn't have a large range and the enemy ninja was surely lurking close by…

"Get down!"

Kakashi shout had the four of them hitting the dirt, Sasuke reaching out to drag Tazuna down with them. A gust of wind ruffled her pink locks and when she glanced back up her eyes widened in horror - a giant blade was embedded in an oak tree in front of them. It would have certainly removed their heads if not for Kakashi's warning.

Sakura scrabbled back to her feet and joined her teammates in forming a protective circle around the bridge builder. Their sensei was tense and his gray eye had darkened to nearly black as he glared up at the shinobi that appeared on the massive sword.

The ninja was as equally monstrously large as his weapon. His back was turned and he was regarding them arrogantly over his shoulder. The bottom half of his face was wrapped in bandages, but the broad expanse of his torso was left bare except for a sword strap across the chest. The vertical stripes of his pants only emphasized his towering height and they, with the matching arm and leg sleeves, did little to conceal his heavily muscled physique.

But it was the hitaiate on his head that caused her stomach to turn to lead. _Kirigakure_. The capital of the Land of Water. Her parents were going to have an aneurysm.

"Well, well. If it isn't the rogue ninja of the Hidden Mist, Momochi Zabuza." Kakashi's casual drawl had an undercurrent of steel. The 'rogue ninja' part of his address caused her intestines to twist nervously. _This is bad_.

When Naruto tried to dart forward to engage their opponent himself - probably an effort to repair his damaged pride from the earlier fight - she snagged the back of his painfully orange jacket and yanked him back into formation.

"You fool, you'll only get in the way. Can't you tell you're way out-classed?" she snapped quietly. Her hands were slick with nervous sweat and her pulse was pounding painfully in her throat. Sakura had been proud of her ability to remain calm so far, but _this guy_ sparked some sort of primal fear in her.

"Sakura is right. You guys stay back. This guy is in a whole other league." Kakashi heaved a heavy sigh and pushed his hitaiate back to expose his scarred left eye.

"I guess with you as an opponent, I'll be needing this." The brilliant scarlet of the Sharingan had her stiffening in shock.

_Oh shit._

**Oh shit.** Inner nodded frantically.** If the Copy Ninja is bringing out the big guns that means we're pretty well fucked.**

"Hatake Kakashi. Konoha's Spare Sharingan." Zabuza's eyes held a manic gleam. "This will certainly be interesting. Unfortunately for you, I need to deliver the bridge builder's head to my employer."

Tazuna froze and his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly.

_Living with a price on your head must be different than having death stare you straight in the face._

The bandaging strained over Zabuza's wide grin. A bead of sweat trickled down Sakura's temple and her teeth clenched together.

**Cocky bastard. Even if we're genin, it's still four against one. And Kakashi's no small fry.**

Sakura tightened her grip on the kunai in her hand as the mist around them began to thicken and Zabuza leaped onto the surface of the nearby river. His raised hand signs and the lethal chakra building in the air had Team Seven readying themselves for battle.

"_Kirigakure no Jutsu_."

The mist turned incredibly dense and Zabuza's form disappeared. The three genin shifted uncertainly around their charge.

"Careful. This guy is the former head of Kiri's ANBU Assassination Unit. A master of the silent kill. Keep your guard up and stay sharp." Kakashi's firm voice strengthened her resolve and she strained her eyes and ears trying to pierce the cloud around them. It was thickening rapidly and soon Kakashi's lean form also vanished from sight.

Zabuza's voice suddenly echoed around them. "Eight points." Even as she whipped her head back and forth she couldn't discern where is was coming from. "Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now, which will be my kill point?" Sakura could feel the small group's fear building and could see the kunai in Sasuke's hand start to tremble.

A fare of chakra from Kakashi had part of the mist fading away, but his furious aura mixed with Zabuza's blood-thirsty chakra hanging in the air and pressed down upon them heavily. She did not imagine her normally-docile sensei would hesitate for a second to rip the Mist-nin limb from limb if he came within striking distance.

Her heart was hammering away under her ribs, but it was her Uchiha teammate that seemed to be struggling the most with the killing intent crushing them. His entire body was trembling and his breaths came in shallow pants.

"Sasuke. Calm down. Don't worry, I'll protect you guys. I will _not_ allow my comrades to die." Kakashi's refreshingly normal eye crinkle - even given their terrifying circumstances - allowed Sasuke to loosen his death grip on his weapon and his breathing gradually slowed.

Sakura was absolutely certain that Kakashi intended to keep his promise and ensure that they kept their limbs attached. Their sensei was a wise and kind teacher and she knew he genuinely cared for their well being.

But then the dumb-ass had to get himself stuck in a water prison and she and the boys were left to figure out how to save their own damn necks, in addition to his.


	7. Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All chapters from FF .net have now been successfully cross-posted.
> 
> Updates will be published on Wednesday evenings.

Sakura's nerves were frayed.

One moment she was confident Kakashi would overpower the Kiri-nin and the next she would be sure the Konoha group's death was imminent.

The rapid back and forth exchange of the jonin's blows and vanishing water clones had left her gaping in equal measure horror and respect. They were absolutely _l__ethal_. Every time Zabuza managed to get close to the genin and swing his massive blade, Kakashi would suddenly appear and intercept him with a vicious snarl. They appeared evenly matched.

Until a strong kick sent Kakashi cashing into the river.

The first bit of true terror stole over Sakura as she watched Zabuza flash through a series of hand signs and plug his arm into the water.

"_Suirō no Jutsu_."

Kakashi was lifted out of the river by a swirling vortex as the water formed a sphere, encasing him inside. She could see his limbs trembling from the force of his efforts to escape, but he couldn't move more than a centimeter in any direction.

The swordsman's chuckle sent shivers rolling down her spine.

"This chakra-infused water is stronger than steel. It'll keep you from squirming while I deal with your little friends. Enjoy the view."

Zabuza lifted the hand that was not submerged in the sphere and formed a sign to produce another water clone.

**That takes some serious fucking skill. Maintaining two jutsu at once and only using one hand for the clone…**

_Can you please stop complimenting our opponent?!_ Sakura growled. _We can analyze his skills after! Assuming we don't die!_

Water-clone-Zabuza stalked closer and gave each of the remaining members of Team Seven a thorough glance-over. Given that they were frozen in fear and probably looked like a pathetic bunch, Sakura wasn't surprised when his lip curled in disgust.

"You think wearing a headband makes you a ninja? When you've hovered between life and death so many times it doesn't phase you, when you become so deadly your profile is entered in my Bingo Book, then you may have earned the title. But to call upstarts like you 'ninja' is a joke."

With another hand sign he vanished into the mist once more.

**Kami-sama! Three jutsu simultaneously?!**

_What did I just fucking say?! Fight now - admire later!_

She was pulled back to the present as his leg shot out of nowhere and sent Naruto flying with a well-placed kick to the gut.

"You're just brats." Zabuza sneered at them.

_He's playing with us. Kakashi already said it - he's a master of the silent kill. If he wanted us dead, he could have stayed under the cover of his jutsu and picked us off one by one. It wouldn't take him long. But instead, he's decided to grind our faces into the mud and break our spirits before he oh-so-mercifully slits our throats._

"Grab the bridge builder and run! You guys are no match for him! Zabuza has to stay in contact with the water prison to maintain it and the clone can't go far from his real body!" Came Kakashi's panicked shout.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?! He'll just kill you first and then come after us!" Sasuke yelled back.

**Oh good, looks like the Uchiha hasn't completely lost it.**

But Sakura's relief quickly turned to dismay as he sprinted towards the Kiri-nin.

**Never mind, I spoke too soon. Kid's obviously got a death wish.**

Sasuke hurled shuriken and forced Zabuza to use his sword to knock them aside - momentarily blocking his line of sight - and leaped into the air in an attempt to throw off the jonin with an attack from above.

Sakura cursed her teammate's cockiness as Zabuza easily plucked Sasuke from the air by the neck and flung him to the side. He was quick to scramble back to his feet and stumble back into formation, but was trembling from the close call.

"Konoha has always been too soft, but this is truly heartbreaking. In my day, the Kiri academy students fought to the death to earn their hitaiate. Gained us the moniker of 'Bloody Mist' but at least it produced competent genin."

He sighed sadly. "Unfortunately, they decided to revamp the graduation exam about ten years ago." He paused to smile. "I think it made them nervous when I killed off over a hundred of the smug little shits. And I wasn't even officially enrolled yet."

Sakura's blood ran cold and she knew they had to act fast.

"Naruto," she hissed quietly, keeping her eyes firmly on their opponent. "Remember that thing you did with Kakashi during the bell test? I need you to do that again."

His brows furrowed in confusion, but he quickly picked up on what she was hinting at. He nodded confidently.

"You got it, Sakura-chan." He semi-whispered back.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!" With a flare of his chakra, over a dozen clones materialized and swarmed Zabuza. As soon as he was engulfed, Sakura grabbed Sasuke, Tazuna, and the original Naruto and hauled them into the bushes.

"Alright, we gotta be quick. That's not going to hold him for long. Time for an_ actual_ plan." She hissed with a glare in Sasuke's direction.

"His sword has too great of a reach, we won't be able to get in close, and if we did manage, he'll just beat us into a bloody pulp." Sasuke quietly snarled.

"Okay, so a long-range attack. Do either of you have anything on you that could help? I've got my senbon, but my aim isn't good enough to take him down."

Naruto shook his head, but Sasuke swung around his bag and pulled out a fūma shuriken. Sakura blinked in surprise, but nodded.

"That'll do."

She turned to the bridge builder who had so far been watching them with a look of trepidation.

"We need to keep you out of sight. I'm going to throw an illusion over you. So long as you stay still and silent, he won't be able to find you over the sounds of battle."

At his nod, Sakura flashed through four hand signs and focused her chakra. With a small breath out, she folded the genjutsu around Tazuna and he melted into the bushes around them.

_All that study time is starting to pay off._

She could already feel the jutsu draining away at her chakra, but she pushed onward. The popping sounds of vanishing clones meant their time was running out. She turned back to the boys and blanched at their matching savage grins.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, we've already got it worked out. If you can take the water clone, we'll free Kakashi-sensei."

Sasuke nodded in agreement with Naruto's statement.

Sakura eyed them doubtfully, but armed herself with two handfuls of senbon and dashed out of their cover before she could talk herself out of it. The Zabuza clone narrowed his eyes at her - he had apparently been expecting one of her male teammates.

_Sexist pig_.

She threw her weapons, aiming for the soft part of his inner wrists and hoping to at least hinder his ability to swing his sword. He dodged, but she was already pulling out kunai and shuriken for another volley. Sakura couldn't risk getting in close, but she sure as hell could keep him busy with projectiles.

Sakura kept up the steady stream as she danced just out of his reach. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Sasuke and Naruto rush out of the bushes, but lost sight of them as the clone attempted to detach her head.

**They better hustle, we aren't gonna survive for long!**

She pushed her arms and legs to move faster and increased the speed of her throws. Sakura's muscles screamed in protest, but if she slowed for even a second, she'd be done for. Just when she thought her body could take no more, the clone's eyes widened and he collapsed into a liquid puddle at her feet. The kunai that had struck him clattered to the ground and she whipped around.

**Huh, I guess they actually did it.**

Kakashi was free of his water prison and she felt a small flash of bitter sympathy for Zabuza when she glimpsed the look of pure rage on her sensei's face. Sasuke was smirking in victory a short distance from the river and Naruto's blond head was bobbing just above the surface as he swam around Kakashi to reach the shore.

The two jonin faced each other with equal expressions of hatred. Zabuza leapt back and his hands blurred as he flashed through an extended set of hand signs. Kakashi put his sharingan to good use and copied the string of movement.

**Forty-four hand signs?!**

"_Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu_"

On the final seal - Bird - the water at their feet swirled and two dragons reared up out of the river - they were identical in size and strength and tore into each other. The force of their collision swept up a wave and the genin struggled to keep their footing as it chased into them. By the time Sakura had steadied herself and glanced back up, Kakashi was holding off Zabuza's sword with a kunai as the dragon remains rained down around them. The Kiri-nin had an expression of confusion on his face as they sprang apart once more.

She realized that he was thrown off by Kakashi's ability to copy _all_ of his physical movements and not just the hand signs he had used. When Zabuza went to form his next jutsu and hesitated at the last moment before channeling his chakra, the Copy Nin took the opening.

"_Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu_"

A massive horizontal tornado of water slammed into Zabuza and tore through the clearing. Sakura crouched and covered her face as she tried to avoid the debris the powerful vortex was generating. Squinting through her fingers, she saw him smash into the large trunk of a tree and be battered by the continuous flood of water. When the cyclone finally started to weaken, he shouted in pain as Kakashi threw a handful of kunai to pin him to the tree.

Crouching on the branch above Zabuza, he snarled. "It's over!"

Sakura swallowed thickly at the realization she was about to see her sensei kill for the first time, but at the last second, a pair of senbon flew through the air and buried themselves into the swordsman's neck. The Konoha group swung around to face the newcomer.

The androgynous form of a masked Kiri shinobi was standing in a tree a few meters away, long hair swaying in the breeze. The pattern on the mask reminded Sakura of the way mist swirled off the surface of the ocean as dawn broke.

"I apologize for the trouble he's caused, but I thank you for distracting him for me." The voice that emanated from behind the mask made Sakura assume he was male, but the slight frame screamed femininity. Either he was a she with a deep voice, or he was _very_ young. Not much older than she was. Sakura shuddered.

"A Kiri Hunter Nin. Your timing is very fortunate." Kakashi said.

"A Hunter Nin?" asked Naruto, bristling for another fight.

"Someone who specializes in tracking down and assassinating missing-nin to keep village secrets concealed. He's not here to challenge us, only to collect his target." Sasuke answered. "Please, for the love of Kami-sama, take a refresher course when we get back to the village. That's something that's taught in the academy."

Kakashi dropped down from his perch and crouched by Zabuza's fallen form to check for a pulse. After a few moments, he rose and sighed. "Yep, he's definitely dead."

The masked-nin bowed shortly and - with a swirl of leaves - appeared next to the body. "I'll just be taking this corpse back to the village. Thank you again for your assistance." Another hand sign and more swirling leaves and he and Zabuza disappeared.

"What the hell?!" Naruto yelled. "After all the work and that guy just swoops in - and, just - ahhh!" The grinding of his teeth was audible and Sakura winced.

Kakashi sighed and ruffled Naruto's hair. "That's how it is sometimes. What matters is that you guys are alright." He glanced around the clearing and frowned. "Where is Tazuna?"

At his question, Sakura swayed and Sasuke reached out to support her suddenly weak form. She quickly cut off the flow of chakra to her genjutsu to stop it's drain on her already-rock-bottom reserves. Kakashi's eye widened as Naruto explained.

"Sakura-chan put him under a really cool illusion! He's probably still in those bushes over there, let me go grab 'em real quick."

Kakashi settled a gentle hand on her and Sasuke's heads. "Good job, I'm proud of you. And Sakura-chan is that a genjutsu you used? That's a new."

She nodded tiredly. "Yeah, I started researching and experimenting after the day you gave us the bell test. But I can't maintain it for long."

He hummed thoughtfully. "I've got some exercises that may help you with that." He glanced up at Naruto's approaching form, Tazuna in tow. "But first we need to get the bridge builder home safely. Alright kiddies, I know you've had a tiring day, but it's only a few more miles until we reach Tazuna's house and then you are free to crash, m'kay?"

He received a drained chorus of sounds of agreement. Kakashi chuckled.

Sakura let out a frustrated groan when they only made it a handful of steps and he was the one to collapse face-first into the mud in an unconscious pile.

**I guess we're dragging him the rest of the way.**


	8. Chapter Seven - Part One

** Chapter Seven **

** Part One **

By the time Kakashi came to it was dusk. Or at least that's what his internal clock told him.

Years of living out in the field kept his breathing and heart rate steady and slow as he stretched out his awareness. His anxiety eased as the calm fluttering of his students' chakra brushed against his senses. Naruto and Sasuke were half a dozen meters to his left and in the company of three smaller, civilian chakras - one of which was reassuringly Tazuna's. They must have arrived safely at the bridge builder's home.

His female student was much closer and the sound of her soft, even breathing and the rustle of pages had him opening his eye and slowly easing himself up.

A sharp green gaze regarded him warily as he settled into a comfortable position - ready to reach out and offer assistance, but also courteous enough not to insult him by rushing forward immediately.

Kakashi's jaw twitched in irritation when he realized what she was holding.

"It's not nice to riffle through other people's belongings when they're asleep, Sakura-chan."

One small pink eyebrow arched at him. "I've already read everything I brought with me. And you weren't asleep, you were unconscious." She flicked her eyes back down to the stolen book and casually turned a page. "Maybe you should have thought about the consequences of leaving others to drag your ass through this awful humidity. You're remarkably heavy. Also, it was between this and that horrid smut you're always carrying around, so you really should be grateful."

Kakashi sighed and raked his hands through his hair, idly noting that he had been stripped down to his navy pants and shirt and the rest of his belongings were piled neatly in a corner - with one notable exception. He reached back under the covers and pulled out a kunai that had been in-hand when he awoke.

He cocked his head and raised a questioning brow. Sakura shrugged.

"You're paranoid. We wanted to make sure you were comfortable, but I convinced Naruto and Sasuke you'd have a conniption if you woke up totally unarmed."

He rubbed at his already-aching temples. _She's either a blessing or a curse._

Kakashi waved a tired hand at her reading material. "I know you're perfect aware it's technically illegal for anyone under chunin rank to have a Bingo Book."

She flashed him a sharp little grin. "Ah, but it's not really mine now, is it? _Possession_ is off limits, but there's no rule about _reading_ one."

He shook his head. "Clever, but you know that every order has a reasoning behind it. The Hokage doesn't want cocky genin running off intending to make a name from themselves by attempting to turn in a bounty and swiftly dying in the process."

"Good way to remove idiots from the gene pool, if you ask me." Sakura snorted bitterly in reply. Her eyes widened and she snapped her head up to meet his narrowed gaze.

"I'm sorry, sensei! I didn't really mean that. It's just-" She broke off and frowned down the open pages. "Zabuza - or anyone else listed - I don't get how someone would _want_ to face them."

"Mah, it's alright Sakura-chan." Kakashi soothed. "You're sharper than the average genin, so I'm not too worried about you running off recklessly. Just don't show the boys." He tried to joke, but his smile slowly melted when she remained silent and wouldn't look back up.

Small teeth worried at her bottom lip as she softly closed the book. "Sensei? Can I ask you a question?"

His eyes followed the way her fingers nervously traced the faded leaf insignia on the front of the otherwise unmarked book. Kakashi felt a brief flash of guilt that his students were thrown so soon into such a dangerous situation, but he shook it off. _Better now where I can protect them, than later when they're on their own_.

"You can ask me anything, Sakura-chan. That's what sensei's here for." He replied gently.

"Zabuza… he enjoys killing, doesn't he?" She asked, voice wavering.

"'Enjoys'?" He narrowed his eye at the present tense, disregarding the question for a moment. "I take it you gathered he's not really dead then?"

Sakura finally glanced up only to frown and scrunch up her nose at him. "Well, yeah."

_Perhaps not as quite as cocky as I was at that age, but she still has her moments._ He thought amused.

She twisted around to dig in the bag sitting next to her and pulled out a scroll. As she unrolled it, he spotted a detailed diagram of the human body - complete with small notes written in a familiar messy scrawl. His fingers twitched.

"Genma-senpai gave me this after our first day of senbon throwing," she said, oblivious as to his absolute _rage _at the fact that she was currently holding _an ANBU anatomy chart_. "I can't hit all the points yet, certainly not when the target is in motion, but I memorized them." Sakura pointed to the spot swordsman had been struck. "The 'Hunter-nin' - who I'd bet good money is an accomplice - was half an inch too low for a kill. Zabuza was paralyzed and his vitals temporarily halted, but after a few days of recovery, he'll be back to full capacity."

Bright eyes looked up, awaiting his confirmation. Kakashi's anger faded. Her eager expression reminded him that - to her - the scroll was information guide that had been given by a team leader, nothing more insidious than that. _Genma on the other hand… I'm going to tear his ass to _shreds _when we get back home. It's bad enough she's taken to wearing senbon in her hair like cute accessories - they're assassination weapons for fuck's sake! - but then he goes teaching her exactly where to aim the damn things!_

Kakashi grudgingly pushed aside his homicidal thoughts and nodded at Sakura's explanation. "Yes. You're correct." He sheepishly rubbed at the back of his head. "The sharingan takes a lot out of me. It's a non-native parasite - always draining away at my chakra, but I sometimes forget how much more it consumes when I'm actively using it. Sensei isn't normally so unobservant to miss something so obvious. As to your original question…" He paused to motion her closer and waited until she'd crawled the few feet separating them to sit cross-legged at the end of his futon - eyes fixed firmly on his stern expression.

He lowered his voice and leaned forward.

"Some people would… disapprove of what I'm about to tell you, but I will never lie to you. Not intentionally.

There is no evil in enjoying a fight. The rush of adrenaline, the satisfaction of putting techniques to use, the pleasure of beating your opponent - these are not things you ever need feel ashamed of. In our line of work, you will be expected to frequently throw yourself into danger at a moments notice with no hesitation and little concern for your own well-being. I will not - nor should anyone else - fault you for appreciating the thrill that those situations can inspire."

Sakura's brows furrowed and her lips pressed into a firm line, but she didn't interrupt him.

"However - enjoyment of a good fight and enjoyment of the _kill_ are two entirely different beasts." Kakashi tightened his grip on the kunai still gripped in his hand. The memory of the rouge-nin targeting his students had his blood rushing hotly through his veins. "Zabuza - as you rightly pinpointed - is someone who gets off on the latter much more than the former. And that makes him dangerous."

A slow nod greeted his words, but Sakura was still looked uncertain. "I… I think I understand sensei… but aren't a good part of A-ranked missions made up of assassinations…?"

"They are, yes. And even B- and C-rank missions carry the risk of having to use lethal force. By the time most shinobi make jonin, they often have a kill count in the triple digits. A count in the four digits by retirement, or more commonly death, isn't rare - especially if one joins the ranks of ANBU. But it is our morality that keeps the vast majority from taking pleasure in the actual act of ending someone's life. Cross that line between duty and obsession and the Hokage steps in to prevent a catastrophe."

Her mouth dropped open and she blinked owlishly at him. "Oh," she breathed. "That… I mean… thank you sensei. For being honest."

Kakashi crinkled his eye and reached forward to tug gently at the end of her loose braid.

"Anytime, my adorable little student. Now how about you help me up and we go find the boys, hm?"

. _ . _ . _ .

"What'd'ya mean he's not dead?!"

Sakura wisely started helping herself to the food spread across the table while her male teammates were distracted by Kakashi's announcement of their opponent's surprise resurrection. If she didn't dig in now, the two black holes would consume everything in sight.

"I mean exactly as I said Naruto - Zabuza was not killed those senbon." Kakashi repeated.

"Dobe. Sakura spent the first hour after we got here staring at her anatomy scroll and muttering about Kakashi being a blind idiot. What the hell did you _think_ that meant?" Sasuke asked scathingly.

"Wha-?! But he's _sensei_. Sakura-chan's awesome and way cool smart, but he's supposed to be right about everything!"

She kept her eyes on the bowl of rice in front of her and didn't look up to meet Kakashi's gaze that she could feel burning into the top of her head. Inner was howling with laughter at her teammates' blunt assessments and their sensei's irritated aura. Sakura was cringing.

Kakashi coughed. "Well, yes, Sakura-chan is certainly observant. But I'm not omnipotent, Naruto.

That aside, we need to be focusing on the threat at hand. Zabuza will only take a few days to recover and then he'll be making another attempt to kill Tazuna-san. That means you three will be taking turns on guard duty. One of you will be stationed here to watch over Tsunami-san and Inari-kun. The other two will be accompanying me on the bridge to protect the work crew. Use your smoke flares to signal if you encounter anyone suspicious."

He glared at each of them in turn. "This is _not_ the time to be over-confident. You _will_ signal or I will have you stripped of your rank and shipped back to the academy."

Sakura thought of the small red cylinders sitting in her hip pouch. _If we have to use a flare while on rotation here at the house, there's no way in hell help would arrive in time. That's assuming we live long enough to even pull the damn thing._

**Let's just hope the murderous-demon does the obvious and targets the bridge. Kakashi has at least proven his ability to keep the bastard's attention focused on him.**

The next morning, Sakura drew the proverbial short-straw and was assigned to guard duty at the house. Not that she really minded - the boys were driving her nuts. Sasuke had apparently woke up in an especially narcissistic mood and had spent a good portion of the morning strutting around like peacock and sneering at everyone else.

**Note to self: Winning a fight inflates baby-Uchiha's ego. And makes him highly irritating. Fuck, Zabuza's still alive and probably going to try to slice us into itty bitty pieces, what the hell is he so smug about?**

Naruto had been steadily improving his ability to focus and not act like a hyperactive knucklehead 24/7 since they had formed Team Seven, but he too had unfortunately regressed. He would just not _shut the fuck up _and his endless energy just made her_ exhausted_. Inari only encouraged him by asking an endless series of questions about what it was like to be a ninja.

**Sensei probably won't let us, but Kami I'd love to tie the pair of them up and chunk 'em in a closet. Might give us a few moments of peace and quiet.**

_We can certainly dream_, Sakura sighed.

She snagged a pair of onigiri off the kitchen counter and snuck out the back door and up onto the roof to eat while browsing through the Bingo Book that she had conveniently "forgotten" to give back to Kakashi.

It was divided into three sections, S-rank, A-rank, and B-rank. The shinobi were listed by village affiliation and then alphabetically.

Sakura automatically flipped to a dog-eared page in the first section and let her eyes drift across the words she had already committed to memory.

** _Name: Zabuza Momochi_ **

** _Village: Kirigakure (Former)_ **

** _Age: 26_ **

** _Rank: Jonin (Former), Missing-Nin (Current)_ **

** _Affiliation: Seven Swordsman of the Mist_ **

** _Notable Information: Current wielder of _ ** ** _Kubikiribōchō_ ** ** _. Former head of Kirigakure's ANBU Assassination Unit. Also known as the "Demon of the Hidden Mist". Defected from his village approximately one year ago for reasons unknown. Currently works as a freelance mercenary. Approach with extreme caution._ **

** _Bounty Alive: 25,000,000 ryō_ **

** _Bounty Dead: 20,000,000 ryō_ **

_Fuck, that's a lot zeros._

"Sakura."

She jumped, snapping her book closed and shoving it in her hip pouch as she rose into a half-crouch. Her dark-haired teammate let out a soft scoff at her skittishness.

"We're leaving. Kakashi wanted me to remind you to do a mile-wide perimeter run every hour." Sasuke said. "We'll be back by sundown."

Sakura swallowed back a snide comment and smiled sweetly at him. "Yes, Sasuke-kun. I'm well aware. We discussed this last night."

A dismissive glance was the only response she received before he turned and hopped down to the ground and out of sight.

Once he was gone, she left out a snarl and thrust the senbon that he had been so careless not to notice back up her long sleeves.

_Pompous ass. One of these days he's going to sneak up on someone who won't hesitate and end up looking like a goddamn porcupine._

. _ . _ . _ .

The rest of her morning went surprisingly well. The perimeter runs only took her fifteen to twenty minutes every hour and were blessedly uneventful. The rest of the time she could use to meditate, read, or go through the exercises Gai and Lee had given her to do while on the mission.

It was only by the late afternoon that the boredom set in and she began to become overly-cautious.

_What if he decides to attack at night? We set up an evening rotation too, but Kakashi has us staying within a few meters of the house and it's not like Naruto, Sasuke, or I would be able to pick him out of the dark if he was genuinely tying to sneak up on us, "Master of the Silent Kill" and all that._

**I personally think you're loosing your goddamn mind. But if you're going to waste time worrying about it, why don't you actually _do_ something?**

Sakura mentally went through the supplies she had on her.

_I suppose we could set a few traps? I've got enough wire and explosive tags for about a dozen._

**Knock yourself out.**

She rolled her eyes at Inner and set to work. By the time she stepped back to admire her completed product, she was pretty proud. The traps were set in a circular pattern around the residence and since they had already warned Tazuna and his family to stick to the well-beaten paths, she didn't have to worry about them accidentally getting caught.

_It's fool-proof._ She thought confidently.

At least until Naruto almost got a foot blown off. It was only thanks to Kakashi's quick reflexes that he was yanked back in time to avoid stepping into a trap that was inches away. Her sensei's tired gaze swept around the clearing and settled on her form sitting on the highest branch she could find in the nearby trees. His brow twitched and he sighed.

"Naruto, please try to pay better attention to your surroundings. Your teammate has been busy fortifying our outpost and has apparently developed a fondness for explosives."

"Explosives?!" Naruto's blue eyes widened in horror and his head whipped around to frantically search for the tell-tale gleam of the wire.

Tazuna looked expression was dismayed and he was muttering under his breath about 'crazy ninja overrunning the damn place'.

Both of Sasuke's eyebrows shot up as he picked out the traps hiding in the brush. "Seems a bit… excessive."

Sakura scowled down at them. _Idiots. Kakashi doesn't seem to disapprove_.

**Ah yes, because he's totally not an paranoid bastard, right?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Total Word Count: 2,773
> 
> Please forgive me for another shorter chapter! I'm still ironing out the details of the fight sequence, which make up a large portion of Part Two.
> 
> It will be posted tomorrow evening, so I won't keep you guys waiting for long!
> 
> Much love,
> 
> Mistress_Kakashi


	9. Chapter Seven - Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remember that this story is NOT cannon-compliant!

The second day of guard duty started off okay - she and Naruto were partnered to accompany Kakashi to the bridge while Sasuke stayed back at the house - but it quickly turned sour once they reached the work-site.

Sakura was flipping though her Bingo Book for the fiftieth time when her teammates suddenly stopped walking. She glanced over her shoulder at them.

"Naruto? Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi didn't respond, dark eye fixed firmly behind her and low growl rubbling through his chest, but Naruto raised a trembling hand to point. His usually-bright irises had almost disappeared behind fear-blow pupils. Heart in her mouth, she turned back around.

Her breathing stopped.

There was a body. Or at least the better part of one, laying at the foot of one of the cranes. It's head was impaled on the chain's hook and swaying like a macabre flag in the wind.

She could hear the sounds of Tazuna's retching breaking the quiet stillness of the morning.

"Sakura. Naruto. Stay close to Tazuna."

Kakashi's clipped tone shook her out of her stupor. She armed herself with a handful of kunai and senbon. Naruto also slipped out his weapons and went around to cover the bridge build's other side.

Their sensei's lean form slipped away, his back tense and guard up. He crouched first by the headless body and rolled it over onto its back. Sakura's stomach lurched as the corpse's hand flopped limply to the side, but Kakashi apparently did not share in her squeamishness and picked up the arm to test the stiffness of the elbow joint.

**Rigor mortis**, Inner helpfully provided. **He's trying to determine how long the poor bastard's been dead. And if we should be concerned about his killer still lurking around.**

The jonin bent closely to examine the neck where the head had been removed, then he stood and walked over to the puddle of blood that had collected under the swinging appendage. He dipped two fingers in and rubbed the blood between them. Kakashi's mask wrinkled as his mouth twisted into a scowl and he quickly made his way back to them.

"We need to-"

Whatever he was about to say was cut off as Zabuza's massive blade cut through group.

Sakura grabbed Tazuna and leaped towards the edge of the bridge and Naruto sprung back in the opposite direction. Kakashi was already moving forward to intercept the rouge-nin before he could try to engage either of the genin.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kakashi. I see you still have your little brats tagging along." The ex-Kiri-nin's voice turned her blood to ice.

_Too soon! It's too soon!_ Sakura mentally screamed as Naruto frantically scrambled to light a flare. _We were supposed to have another day at least for him to recover enough to fight!_

**That damn fake-Hunter-nin must have some medical skills, because he sure as fuck is here now!**

A thick fog rolled over the group and Kakashi and Zabuza's writhing forms disappeared from view, though the clashing of steel reverberated through her eardrums. She could barely see a meter is any direction and only the bright flash of the flare gave her an indication that Naruto was still somewhere to her right hand side.

Sakura jerked back as a senbon flew by centimeters from her face. The masked accomplice suddenly appeared out of the mist and was charging right at her. Her mouth formed a soundless snarl as she rushed forward, their senbon and kunai grating together harshly.

He jumped back quickly, apparently surprised that she had met his attack so willingly. Sakura bared her teeth as she ducked to avoid more senbon being thrown her way.

_Nice try dickhead, but I've been dodging senbon for the last three weeks. Genma and Kakashi have much better aim._

She darted forward as he reached back to reequip and, with a sharp roundhouse kick that would have made Lee cry tears of joy, sent him flying into the white mist. She retreated back to stand guard in front of Tazuna, unwilling to leave him unprotected for more than a few seconds.

Her worry at leaving the foreign shinobi to prowl through the fog unchallenged was washed away as a streak of blue and white rushed past her crouched form.

**Thank Kami-sama for hotheaded Uchihas and their willingness to run head-first into battle. It'd be a crying shame if the bridge builder lost his head while we were busy fighting the mini-psychopath.**

Sakura nodded in agreement.

She strained her ears to try and pinpoint where the swordsman and her sensei were, but the lack of audible sounds of fighting chilled her to the bone. She could just make out Naruto's shouting and gathered he had gone to assist Sasuke, but she couldn't locate the jonin pair.

_Where are they?!_

"Ah, poor little pup. Left all by your lonesome. Don't worry, you won't live much longer to miss your teammates."

Zabuza's voice echoed around her and the fait sound of Kakashi's shout of anger came from off to her left.

_Oh fuck, oh fuck, where is he?!_

Sakura desperately threw out her chakra, hoping to catch which direction the missing-nin was coming at her from.

**Behind us.**

She snatched up Tazuna and flooded her muscles with chakra as she tried to make a run for it.

If she hadn't been bearing the bridge builder's weight, she might have escaped.

_Too slow, too slow, too slow, too slow. _

Sakura had twisted her head around at the last second and regretting it when her wide eyes met Zabuza's crazed gaze as he swung his massive sword.

_Too slow, too slow, too slow-_

A scream was ripped from her throat as his blade made contact.

"_Sakura!_"

Her legs buckled and she crashed to the ground, knees and elbows scraping against the rough concrete. But the brief flash of pain of the impact was no comparison to the fire blazing along her back.

A white-hot slice ran from her temple down to her knee, warm blood rolling in rivulets across her skin.

She struggled to stay conscious as the edges of her vision darkened and the agony - _oh Kami-sama, how could something hurt so much?_ \- eclipsed almost all of her other senses.

Howls of rage shook the bridge. She peeled back her eyelids - _when had those closed?_ \- to see Tazuna gaping off to the side, eyes wide in terror. Sakura dragged her wavering gaze to follow his line of sight and spotted the swordsman pinned into place by the multi-colored bodies of Kakashi's ninken pack. Her sensei's signature jutsu set the world around them ablaze and his eyes - one darkened to near-black and the other a fiery red - were locked onto his opponent's immobilized form.

Chidori's frenzied chirping split the air as he flashed forward with killing intent.

Sakura felt a distant wave of satisfaction - _fucker deserves it_ \- until Kakashi was forward momentum was cut off by the slender figure of Zabuza's associate.

The Copy-Nin halted, staring in horror at his arm buried in the young boy's chest.

_No. No, he has to die! Kakashi can't freeze now! He'll escape - he'll kill us all - Sasuke and Naruto - oh Kami — I'm too young to die! No, no, no, no!_

**Then ** ** _do something_ ** **!**

Sakura didn't pause to think of the consequences. Her panic blinded her. There was only the thought of _he must die _spinning wildly through her head. Pain and adrenaline thundered through her veins. The muscles of her right leg had been severed and wouldn't support her body, so she redistributed the weight.

_Can't stop, can't stop, not now._

She rushed forward, uncaring of the waves of agony flaring with every step, and scrambled up the swordsman's back - yanking his head back by the hair. A kunai was in her hand.

It was only when she had dropped back down to the ground, left leg fighting to support her and hot blood coating her hands that her brain finally caught up with her actions.

She had slit his throat.

And not just slit it. Her blade had rasped against _bone_ as the force she put behind her strike nearly severed his head from his shoulders.

The ninken released their hold as his body went limp and he dropped dead to the ground.

She pulled her eyes from the corpse and up to meet Kakashi's shocked gaze.

"Sumimasen, sensei," the words fell numbly from her lips. "I seem to have accidentally made my first kill."


	10. Chapter Eight

Kakashi pulled his arm from the ribcage of Zabuza’s young accomplice and rushed forward to catch his blood-soaked student as she collapsed.

His eyes frantically ran over the length of her wound, but the rapid pounding of his heart slowed as he took in the scope of the damage. The blow was not as life-threatening as initially feared, as the sword had hit her as she was already moving to avoid it.

“Hurts.” The croaked sound of Sakura’s voice was barely audible and her eyes were glassy with pain.

He gently smoothed a hand over her tangled braid.

“I know Sakura-chan. Sensei’s here now, just stay awake and the boys and I’ll take care the rest, ‘kay?”

She gave a tired nod, teeth digging into her bottom lip as she struggled to keep her composure. He was already pulling out bundles of bandaging and began quickly wrapping them around her leg, hip, and back.

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and let out sharp gasp. The tears she had been holding back spilled softly down her cheeks.

“S-sensei?”

Kakashi glanced up, not faltering in his movements.

Naruto’s eyes were wide as he stared down at the tiny form of his teammate, his usually so expressive face a pale, blank mask.

Kakashi’s fingers began to tremble, though he picked up a second roll and started to wind it around Sakura’s shoulder.

_Minato-sensei, is that how I looked when you brought home Rin and Obito’s bodies? Her chest gaping wide open… His body half-crushed…_

_Like I’d never forgive you for failing to protect us as you’d promised?_

“…Kakashi-sensei… Is she going to-?” The strangled question from his normally confident, dark hair student knocked him out of his downward spiral.

He shook his head to dispel thoughts of the past. _Here and now, Kakashi. These kids need you. Focus._

His glanced over Naruto’s shoulder and locked gazes with Sasuke - and had to suppress a wince. Brilliant red eyes were fixed on him, single black tome was spinning in their depths.

_Oh that’s just icing on the cake of this fuck-fest. He’s unlocked the goddamn Sharingan._

Kakashi let out a long, tired sigh. “Sakura-chan’s not going to die, you guys. But she is loosing a lot of blood and we need to get her back to Tazuna’s home so her wound can be properly treated.”

“‘m not gonna ‘ie…?” Sakura’s muffled words made his lips twitch up at the corner.

“Did I not tell you sensei would take care of everything?” He chided gently, digging in his hip pouch to take out a small bag. Kakashi extracted three pills and reached down to offer them to her.

“Here, open up. Chew and swallow.”

She obediently followed his order, but grimaced at the taste as she ground them down.

“What are those?” Naruto’s face had regained a bit of life and he crouched and picked up Sakura’s hand to smooth his thumb over her knuckles, uncaring of the blood smeared in the process. He received a weak squeeze in return.

“A solider pill and two blood-replenishing pills. They’ll keep her stable for now.”

“Boss, I hate to interrupt the tender moment…” Pakkun drawled at his side. “But we’ve got more company.”

The pack had bristled and was snarling at the group of thugs that had gathered on the bridge - a short, fat man at the head.

“Fucking hell, you just can’t pay enough for competent mercenaries these days.” The man sneered, pausing to spit in disgust. “Zabuza was charging me an arm and leg and the asshole couldn't even finish the job.”

“I take it you’re Gato.” Kakashi said, rising from his crouch and casually brushing the dust from his pants. “The scum responsible for the trouble plaguing this town.”

“Don’t forget he was also the one to let Zabuza off his leash,” Sasuke said, eyes glowing menacingly in the rapidly-fading mist around them.

“Bastard!” Naruto snarled, whiskers prominent on his cheeks and a feral light in his eyes “Don’t expect to leave here alive after what you’ve done to our teammate!”

Wrathful chakra buffered Kakashi on both sides from his seething students, but he held up a hand to keep the impulsive males from rushing forward. “Now, now boys. We are Konoha shinobi. And the Hokage has stipulated that all civilian opponents faced directly on a battlefield are to be given the chance to yield.”

He turned his piercing, mismatched gaze onto the businessman, a mocking smile twisting his mask. “So, Gato-san… I will offer only once. Surrender yourself into our custody and order your men to stand down and your life will be spared. Well, at least by us - I give no guarantee that the townspeople won’t have you drawn and quartered.”

Gato barked out a harsh laugh, spreading his silk-encased arms wide to gesture around them. “I don’t think you quite understand the situation, Hatake. This is _my town_,” he bared his teeth, cracking his cane against the bridge’s surface, “and if you think I’m the one going to die here today you’ve lost your goddamn fucking mind.”

With a wave of his fleshy hand, the two dozen or so thugs behind him rushed forward, smiles splitting their faces and whoops of rabid excitement filling the air.

Kakashi sighed heavily. _They really never learn._ He rolled his head to the side to evaluate his students. The boys stood at the ready, muscles trembling with anticipation. Sakura had shuffled into a unsteady crouch, heavily favoring her injured side and watching the approaching enemies with narrowed eyes.

“Naruto. Sasuke. The pack and I will take the lead. I want you two following no less than a three meters behind us to take care of anyone that slips through. Sakura isn’t in a great state and we still need to guard Tazuna, so I’m counting on you guys.”

He received tight nods in reply.

“Remember, these aren’t formally trained shinobi. They’re street thugs or genin drop-outs at best - as such I expect you’ll have little trouble, but don’t make stupid mistakes.”

“Hai, sensei.” The three of them said in unison.

“Good.”

With a causal flick of his fingers, the pack speed forward eagerly to intercept the incoming group, Kakashi only a fraction of a second behind them.

As he ducked under the swing of a nail-studded baseball bat and sank his kunai into his first opponent’s temple, he couldn’t help releasing a snarl of suppressed rage.

_You dare to threaten my students?!_

Kakashi had previously been keeping his chakra under control as to not rile up the genin, but in the heat of battle he let his fury flow out. The thugs closest to him stumbled in their charge and gapped with wide, terror filled eyes as they realized the grievous error they had made.

A burning, bitter satisfaction filled his belly as fool after fool fell screaming under his blades and the teeth of his ninken.

_You shouldn’t have rushing into battle without pausing to calculate your odds. _He thought coldly. _Now you’ll die for a ungrateful master that will join you shortly._

Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi spotted a pair of Gato’s men slip by Bull as he was crushing one of their comrade’s heads between his powerful jaws. Their path towards Tazuna was quickly blocked by Naruto and Sasuke, both with kunai drawn.

Kakashi’s sight was momentarily blocked as a man with a crazed expression swung a rusted sword at his head. The jonin parred the blade with the kunai in his left hand and dug the one in his right between the man’s ribs and up into his heart. The body dropped limply to the ground as he turned back to check on his students.

The boys were panting and splattered with blood, but their opponents’ unmoving forms lay at their feet, either dead or firmly unconscious. Judging by Sasuke’s shaking hands and wide, blank stare, he was unfortunately guessing the former.

_Dammit all to hell. Their first mission out of the village and all three of them are going to end up making their first kill._ He mentally cursed.

Kakashi picked up his pace, slashing mercilessly, determined to keep the majority of blood off of his student’s hands. He had nearly finished cutting his way through the crowd and was closing in on Gato’s cowering form, when a shout halted his forward momentum.

“Sakura!”

Kakashi’s head whipped around to see Sasuke and Naruto were struggling to simultaneously fend off a group of five and get to their teammate who was being charged by a trio that had slid past while the pair were occupied.

_Fucking cowards, aiming for an already-injured genin. Come on Sakura!_ Kakashi mentally shouted. _Show the bastards that a Konoha kunoichi is not to be taken lightly._

Her lips had pulled back to bare sharp, blood-stained teeth and the hand not supporting her weight filled with senbon. She flung the needles and they lodged themselves into the eye sockets of her nearest opponent and he went down screaming, but Sakura was forced to scramble back as the second thug swung a chipped, dull katana at her.

A spasm of intense pain rolled across her features and she stumbled onto her backside, her hands reaching out and grasping desperately for the closest weapon available.

When her small, bloodstained fingers closed around Zabuza’s sword’s handle, Kakashi’s heart clenched.

_No, anything but that! Kubikiribōchō is a sword of the Seven! It won’t obey someone who isn’t-_

His thoughts stuttered to a halt as she wrapped her hands around the hilt, squeezed her eyes shut, lunged forward, and swung the massive blade.

The severed heads of her two remaining opponents thudded wetly against the concrete and rolled, their bodies crumpling where they had previously stood.

Sakura stood on shaking legs, gasping for breath, and peeled her lids back to stare down at the weapon in her hands. The dark metal of the blade slowly bled red starting from the handle and creeping down the length until even the tip was a deep vermillion.

_Fucking hell,_ He thought numbly. _The blade’s reacting to her chakra._

She was only able to remain standing for a few more seconds before she dropped the sword and crashed to her knees, crying out in the process. As soon as it left her grasp, the blade darkened back to it’s original steely gray.

The boys had finally ended their fight and Sasuke hurried to catch her limp form, Naruto not far behind him.

Kakashi left his students to support one another and redoubled his efforts in cutting down the remaining gang members. Anyone that was fortunate enough to have escaped him was quickly caught by the pack and torn to shreds. It wasn’t long before they all were dead or least in the process of bleeding out, and Kakashi stalked forward to loom over Gato’s solitary figure.

The greedy tycoon was even fatter up close, the well-manicured nails of his hands and the sheen of his unwrinkled, silken suit a testament to his soft and lavish lifestyle. His pupils were blown wide behind his tinted glasses and the leather soles of his shoes scuffed against the rough pavement as he stumbled back in fear.

“W-wait! Surely we talk this out?!” He pleaded.

“Hmm? Now you want to talk, after I so generously gave you a chance to surrender?” Kakashi’s voice rang out soft and calm in the still air around them. “I think not.”

A bead of sweat trickled down Gato’s face and he started to babble as Kakashi reached for his weapons pouch. “No, no, please-! You don’t-!” His words were cut off and he gargled on blood as the jonin impassively slit his throat.

Kakashi watched as Gato’s hands fumbled uselessly to try and stop the stream flowing from his neck. His eyes bulged and blood dribbled from his lips as he soundlessly attempted to beg one last time for his life.

Unfortunately for him, Kakashi had long ago grown accustomed to watching people die.

After a few moments of floundering, the light faded from Gato’s eyes and he slumped forward to land face-first in a puddle of his own blood. Kakashi wiped his kunai clean on his pant leg and turned to the pack that was waiting patiently for orders. A quick flick of his fingers had them darting off to complete a familiar task.

“Bull, with me.”

The massive bulldog huffed in acknowledgement and turned to follow, red-tinted slobber trailing from his muzzle. Kakashi made his way over to his clustered students. Sakura’s eyes were half-closed and she was propped against Naruto’s shoulder, his obnoxiously orange jacket draped around her. They were all three watching him closely, faces bare of emotion.

Kakashi mentally winced. _They weren’t supposed to see any of this yet. Most genin don’t have their rose colored glasses ripped off so soon. And they certainly didn’t need to see their virtuous sensei executing someone so calmly, no matter how much the rat bastard deserved what was coming to him._

Out loud, he sighed. “The pack is gathering the bodies for disposal. Anyone still alive will be restrained and handed over to the townspeople to deal with.”

Sasuke was the first to stagger to his feet. “What do you need from us?”

“I will stay here for a short while to clear up the mess, but Sakura-chan and Tazuna need to be taken to his home. Naruto?”

A pair of grim, blue eyes met his own. “I need you to escort them. Bull here will carry Sakura-chan and act as your back-up if you encounter any trouble.”

Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but Kakashi was quick to cut her off. “No, you’ve done enough Sakura-chan. Let us take care of things for now.” She eyed him mulishly, but didn’t utter any objections.

“Sasuke, I need you to stay with me and help coordinate the clean up.”

A gruff, affirmative “hn” was received and Kakashi tiredly rubbed at his jaw as the Uchiha started towards where the pack was piling the corpses.

_The Hokage is going to have a stroke when he hears about this._

. _ . _ . _ .

Sakura struggled to unclench her jaw as Bull finally stopped to let her down in front of Tazuna’s house. Though she knew he had done his best to make the ride smooth, it had taken every ounce of her power to keep from screaming each time her wound was jostled and sent a bolt of fire down her back.

She had barely enough sense to notice that a small group of village men were clustered on the house’s front porch, apparently arguing about what to do with a trio of tied-up thugs at their feet.

_Huh. I had wondered how Sasuke knew we would need help._ She thought dazedly.

**Yes, yes, pretty-boy Uchiha rubbed enough of his testosterone-ruled brain cells together to figure out that an organized crime unit was likely to try the good old divide-and-concur routine.** Inner snarked. **Now, can we please try to focus on getting off this horse-dog and not passing the fuck out?**

Trying in vain to ignore the shocked gasps and burning stares drilling into her, she dragged in a slow, deep breath.

_We can do this. Come on. Three… two… one!_

Sakura let out a low hiss as she slowly eased her legs off of Bull’s back and slid down his flank until her feet hit the ground. Her vision swam and she resolved to remain leaning against the oversized ninken’s form until Naruto, carrying Tazuna’s adult-sized bulk, caught up to them. Best to do as Inner suggested and not make a fool of herself by trying to walk without support.

The clattering of shoes on wood had Sakura slowly raising her head to regard Tazuna’s daughter, who - thankfully - appeared unharmed.

“Sakura-chan?!” Tsunami gasped in horror, rushing forward.

**Yeah, I’m sure we’re a fucking sight to behold.**

She blinked stupidly at the beautiful young mother, unable to gather the energy to even try to begin to explain.

But her silence only caused Tsunami’s expression to tighten and she nodded firmly, stooping down to Sakura’s hight to wrap an arm her waist.

Her sharp, dark eyes darted up to glare fiercely at the men standing, gaping at the scene. “What do you idiots think you’re doing?” Tsunami snapped. “Get those ass-hats up and out of here! I don’t give a damn what you do with them, but I have more important things to tend to.”

Sakura couldn’t help gazing up at the woman in gratitude as the villagers scrabbled to obey the order and their attention was turned away from her injured state. But her focus was only momentary, and as the pair shuffled up the steps, Sakura’s head spun and she lost all but the vaguest consciousness of her surroundings.

By the time they stopped and she was lowered down to rest her good hip on a stool, Sakura was panting in pain and made no effort to slow the continuous stream of tears flowing down her cheeks. Through her blurred vision, she spotted Inari’s small, pale face peaking around the tiled wall of what she belated realized was the bathroom. His mouth was trembling as he tried to hold back tears of his own.

_Well, fuck. Kakashi said we’d live, but the brat’s expression has got me second guessing that._

“Tsunami-san?” Naruto’s bright hair glinted in the harsh light of the artificial bulbs as he brushed in past Inari, having finally arrived. “What can I do?”

“Here, keep her steady while I go gather supplies.” Sakura refrained from complaining about being passed around like a sack of potatoes, if only because it would take energy that she just couldn’t be bothered to muster.

Her head flopped forward into the increasingly-familiar hollow of Naruto’s shoulder and she took in his spicy smell in long, slow breaths as she tried to concentrate on something other than the pain pulsing though her body.

“S’alright Sakura-chan. We’re gonna get you taken care of.” Naruto muttered softly.

She groaned quietly in response.

“Naruto,” Tsunami said tightly as she returned, arms full. “Where is Kakashi-san?” She asked, setting down a large glass bottle, a pair of scissors, and a small wooden box.

“He and Sasuke were taking care of the bodies on the bridge. They shouldn’t be far behind us.”

Tsunami wavered at the casual mention of casualties, but nodded in understanding.

“Alright. I’m going to need you to go wait in the kitchen. There is a small first-aide kit I’ve set out for you to tend to any minor injuries and Otosan should be able to help. When your sensei returns, please send him this way.”

Naruto’s brows furrowed as he seemed to be contemplating arguing, but Sakura patted his forearm in reassurance, lifting her head and shifting her weight off of him, his brief embrace enough to help her regain her dignity.

He frowned, obviously still uncertain, but left without causing any trouble.

“Now then Sakura-chan.” Tsunami smiled tightly once the door was firmly closed. “Let’s get those clothes off of you so we can get a better look at that wound.”

Sakura sealed herself and gripped onto the edge of the bathtub as Tsunami set to work first removing her weapon pouches carefully and then cutting through Kakashi’s hasty bandage job.

Starting at her knee and working up Sakura’s back, Tsunami used a small ladle and a bucket of water to dampen her bandages and peel away the layers of blood-soaked cotton. She muttered apologies under her breath as Sakura’s sucked in sharp breaths through her teeth, jaw threatening to shatter under the pressure of keeping silent.

Once the task was complete, the rest of her clothing could be quickly sliced off and thrown to the side. Somewhere in the back of her muddled brain, Sakura marveled that she wasn’t cringing in embarrassment at being naked in front of a woman she had met a week ago.

**It is nice not to be covered in blood.** Inner said bitterly. **Ours, batshit-crazy-Zabuza’s, those nameless underlings of Gato’s…**

Sakura’s gazed trailed down to the drain, where rust colored water swirled.

_Four people… I killed four people today._ She thought in sudden shock.

**Well, three for sure. Senbon-to-the-eyeballs might still be kicking.**

Her fingernails dug into the soft wood of the bath and her harsh breathing started to have less to do with the - admittedly still agonizing - pain of her wound and more to do with her impending mental breakdown.

A knock on the door startled her out of her stupor and Sakura cursed her addled senses.

The door slid open and Kakashi’s lean form slipped into the small room. His lone gray eye clinically swept over her pathetically hunched form, the Sharingan once again covered by his hitaiate.

“Mmm…” he hummed, gaze sliding over the supplies gathered. “Thank you for you help Tsunami-san, but would you mind stepping out for this next bit? I have it handled from here.”

Tsunami nodded. “Of course, Kakashi-san.” She rose from her position at Sakura’s side and gave her a small smile as she closed the door behind her.

Sakura watched vacantly as Kakashi removed his gloves, pushed up his sleeves, and proceeded to scrub the filth from his hands.

Once cleansed, he sighed deeply, turning the water off and reaching for the glass bottle that Tsunami had previously deposited on the floor.

“I’m not going to bother asking how your doing.” He said softly as he opened the small box - a sewing kit - and extracted a curved needle and a length of thread.

She blinked, pulling her gaze up to meet his. The wrinkling of his mask made her think he was frowning, though she couldn’t really trust her slowly-fading field of vision.

“If I had know this is how our mission would turn out, I wouldn’t have taken you a single step outside of the village.” He said grimly, dousing his tools in with the bottle of sake she had previously failed to identify. The fumes burned her nose and her hair stood on end as she realized what he was going to do.

**Blood loss is really doing wonders for your IQ.** Inner sighed. **What the fuck did you think he was going to do - glue you back together?**

Kakashi pulled a short length of leather out of his hip pouch. “Bite down on this. Don’t be afraid to scream, because I’ll tell you right now that this is going to hurt like a bitch.”

She eyed the strap, already stamped with numerous crescent imprints and worn in way that spoke of frequent use. Sakura shuddered but took it between her teeth without comment and squeezed her eyes shut as he once again reached for the bottle of sake.

**Maybe that means he’s got lots of experience sewing people up?** Inner suggested hopefully.

_Or he’s the one always being sewn up. I wonder if he does it himself?_ She mused.

Sakura’s mental debate with Inner was cut short as he poured the liquor over her shoulder and down her back, buttocks, and leg, igniting her nerves instantaneously. She bowed over the bathtub and screamed hoarsely through her clenched teeth. Only Kakashi’s strong grip kept her from thrashing about in anguish.

_Hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, Kami-sama please make it stop!_

Once her scream had trailed off into harsh sobs Kakashi eased his hold. He murmured soft, soothing sounds as he switched to the needle and thread and began quickly stitching her up, starting from her knee. The pinch and pull was much less intense than the fire that had just ravaged her body and Sakura’s sobs slowly trailed off into quiet hiccups. Frequent shivers racked her small frame as the evaporating alcohol quickly chilled her.

“We’re almost done, Sakura-chan.” He reassured her, finishing off the long trail of stitches at her shoulder. “We still need to tend to your face, but let’s get you dried off and into bed at least.”

She nodded weakly, but didn’t have any energy to do anything more. Sakura felt very small and weak as Kakashi scooped her up into a towel and crossed from the bathroom into the large shared room that the team had been housed in for the duration of their stay. He gently laid her onto a soft futon that had been laid out and covered her with several thick blankets.

She started unseeingly up at the ceiling as he disappeared back into the bathroom. He returned, settling crosslegged at her head with a fresh length of thread, the needle, and a small scrap of fabric in hand. “Try to stay very still Sakura-chan. I’m going to try and keep the stitches as neat as possible to hopefully reduce the scarring. You’ve got too cute of a face for that.” His eye crinkled down teasingly down at her, though his voice was serious.

Sakura hummed in acknowledgement and winced only when he pressed an alcohol soaked cloth to the side of her face. It stung fiercely, though much less than her back and leg had, and her body was so exhausted that she didn’t utter a sound.

True to his word, Kakashi was extra careful as he stitched her face and she tried her best to make his task easier by remaining motionless, even when the needle gleamed in her peripheral vision as he worked.

Through the now-familiar pinch and pull of the suturing, her eyes slowly closed and Sakura finally found herself succumbing to her exhaustion and falling into the deep darkness of sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look who’s back!! Yay! XD
> 
> I’m so sorry guys, there’s no valid excuse except that I just lost my motivation to write for a long while there. However, this story has never been far from my mind and I *am* determined to finish it, so please stick with me!
> 
> I hope to get another chapter out by the end of this month, but if not, I want to wish you all a very happy Yule, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and New Year!
> 
> Much love,
> 
> Mistress Kakashi


	11. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remember that this story is NOT cannon-compliant.

Sakura's lids snapped open and her eyes darted around the darkened room. In every shadow stretching across the floor loomed - in her mind's eye - an enemy.

Her frantic search jerked to a halt when she met a pair of glowing red orbs.

_All she could smell or taste was bitter, coppery blood. Blood - why was there so much blood? Blood belonged inside her, didn't it? Not splattered and speckled and puddled on the ground. The pain, the _pain, _— no - the utter _agony_. Oh how she wished it would stop! Stop, stop, stop, for the love of Kami, someone make it stop, please! PLEASE!_

Pulse pounded in her ears and bile rising in her throat, Sakura scrambled for a weapon - the smooth slide of sheets against her bare legs a mocking whisper of her current state of disarmament.

_Something pointy, something sharp, something pointy, something sharp- _

**Fuck that.** Inner snarled. **WE'RE the weapon, bitch. Wring their fucking necks!**

"Dammit Sakura!" A pair of pale hands darted out and restrained her.

_Hands. Twenty-seven bones in the human hand; fifty-four in a pair. So many tiny, fragile bones… so easy to break… crush the hands first and then go for the eyeballs - nice and soft and squishy and very effortless to burst. Maybe then the cervical spine? Quick twist - snap, crackle, pop. Threat eliminated._

"Calm the fuck down! It's just me!"

She vaguely recognized gruff, irritated voice and she raised her gaze from his hands. Breathing harshly, her eyes finally adjusted to dim lighting - the demons lurking in the shadows faded. Blinking heavily and trying to tune out Inner's purred encouragements at the prospect of killing a man with nothing but her bare hands, she slowly recognized the person eyeing her suspiciously.

"S-sasuke…?" She panted, sweat trickling down the nape of her neck.

"Obviously." He rolled his eyes, scowl twisting his features.

**Well shit, that's definitely the cocky Uchiha we all know and love. Or rather ****_despise_****, if I do say so myself.** Inner sneered.

Shaking her head to clear the lingering fuzziness, Sakura tried to gather her bearings. She was sitting on a futon in the team's shared room, blankets pooled in her lap, and a large navy shirt - likely one of Kakashi's - dwarfing her otherwise naked body.

"I- I'm sorry… I just…" Sakura shook her head sharply again to try and clear the cobwebs that were muddling her thoughts. "The Sharingan - I've only ever seen Kakashi-sensei's - And he's only got one, ya'know? — and that's new, I mean for you. Right? Never seen you use it - I just really wasn't expecting to - Does that make sense? Yes? No, fucking Kami-sama, I'm not making any sense." She laughed sharply and reached up to cradle her aching temple.

The prick of stitches against her fingertips sent a jolt through her. Sakura tentatively traced the line down to the edge of her jaw and felt the longer, larger echo that inched and _burned_ down the length of her back and leg.

Sasuke flinched at the mention of his kekkei-genkai and his eyes quickly faded back to onyx. "It manifested when Naruto and I fought Zabuza's apprentice- accomplice- whatever the hell he was. It's still… unpredictable."

Releasing his hold on her hands - now apparently convinced she was conscious enough not to try and attack him, he settled back into his position at her side. "What woke you?"

A brief nightmare-image of sharp teeth and beady eyes flashed through her's mind. She swallowed down her rising nausea and let her hand drop from her face to tightly fist the blanket in her lap.

_He's dead. Dead, dead, definitely dead. People just don't live without their heads fully attached to their bodies._

"I don't know." The lie tasted sour, cowardly.

Her gaze flicked over to the window where light was weakly filtering through blinds. "How long was I out?"

Sasuke cocked his head. "A couple of hours? I think it's just past noon."

"Where's Naruto? And Kakashi-sensei? Are you guys okay?"

He frowned deeply, dark brows furrowed. "Naruto's keeping Inari occupied. Kakashi's in the shower. You're the one that got sliced. We're fine - cuts and bruises mostly. Nothing that won't heal in a few days."

**Me thinks the princess doth protest too much.**

She hummed in agreement and raised a slim pink brow at Sasuke's clearly prepared response.

Scowling at her expression, Sasuke turned his head away, the muscles in his jaw twitching. Dark purple bags under his eyes stood out harshly against his ghostly complexion and the acidic smell of smoke permeated the room.

"We're as fine as can be expected." He unwillingly admitted.

"Kakashi's avoiding everyone as much as he possibly can. Naruto can't stand to be idle for a moment, rushing from task to task - trying to postpone the inevitable breakdown I'm sure. And I- I can't get the _smell_ out of my head…

I remember being so _anxious_ and _proud_ to learn the _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_ \- it's required of all Uchiha before they can be officially recognized as part of the clan… Itachi-nii mastered it age five and I didn't want to disappoint my family, even though it was Otou-san who refused to teach me until I was seven… It was _amazing_, I've never felt more gratified than when I finally grasped the technique and that ball of flames blew from out from between my lips…

But I _never_ thought I'd be using it on_ corpses_."

There was a moment of silence where Sakura just blankly stared at his hunched shoulders and processed his unexpected, rabbling confession.

**Hmmm… I can see why the elder brother is considered the genius. What a fucking idiot.** Inner snipped.

Sakura's eye twitched and her lip curled. "Sasuke. Have you ever considered what would happen if you _actually hit someone_ with one of those oh-so-impressive fireballs? 'Cuz that seems like a pretty good way to end up with a fragrant, crispy carcass to me." Her words were jagged and dripping with false sweetness.

Sasuke's teeth clinked together, eyes narrowing, and expression frosting over at her tone. "What the hell are you implying?"

Her blood absolutely _boiled_. The pompous, self-centered, egotistical, Uchiha _idiot_!

"That you shouldn't use a technique if you haven't stopped to consider its consequences!" She snarled, having finally reached her limit with his seemingly-deliberate ignorance. "We're_ shinobi_, damn it! At least half of the shit we learn is to kill or maim! It's an even bigger fucking pity that I have to spell that out for you! I can almost guarantee that your A-rank shinobi of a _'nii-san'_ has roasted his fair share people, both dead and alive! If you have such an issue with the smell of burning flesh, I suggest you find a different fucking occupation 'cuz you're sure as _fuck_ not going to make it very far with that goddamn attitude!"

Sasuke jerked back as if physically struck.

He hissed out a low breath and was no doubt about to issue scathing retort, but soft sound of padding feet on wood had them whipping their heads toward the doorway where Kakashi appeared.

"Ah. I thought I heard my cute little students' voices. Glad to see you up Sakura-chan." Kakashi's eye crinkled as he rubbed a towel over his damp silver hair. "Shower's free, Sasuke. When you're done, go ahead and help Naruto and Tsunami in the kitchen. Sakura and I will try to be in shortly."

"Fine." Sasuke spat, casting a parting glare at her over his shoulder as he rose. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he brushed past the tall jonin.

Kakashi just sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

"Alrighty, Sakura-chan. Let's try and get you up and dressed, shall we?"

She blanched at the painfully-sound suggestion, her earlier burning fury instantly squelched.

**Nope, nope, I think we're perfectly happy here on the floor, thanks, but no thanks. **Inner shook her head frantically.

Kakashi paid no mind to her panicked expression and hummed a short tune as he crouched behind her to slip his arms under hers.

"On the count of three, I'm going to lift up. I'll support your weight, so just focus on getting your feet under you."

"Kakashi-sensei, are you sure-" She tried to protest.

"Now, now, Sakura-chan. You can't scold Sasuke for not confronting the realities of shinobi life and then not be prepared to face your own." Kakashi said, voice low and biting.

She flinched. _Fucking hell_. "Yes, sensei."

"Good. Now, on three. One. Two. Three."

Grinding her teeth harshly as he lifted, Sakura pushed through the renewed pain lighting her nerves on fire and concentrated on straightening her legs and planting them firmly beneath her.

"There now. Told you you could do it." Kakashi's mask wrinkled with a smile as he circled her trembling form.

Sakura was panting heavily and glaring daggers through the pink strands that had fallen over her eyes. "Oh, yes, lets please ignore the fact that my legs are shaking like a fucking newborn deer's and that I'm likely incapable of taking a single fucking step."

"Language, Sakura-chan." He corrected calmly, squatting to dig through his bag.

"That cut extends from your temple to your jaw and then from your shoulder to just above your knee. You were leaning forward and moving away when the blow hit you and Zabuza swung his sword in a vertical arch, which means that the injury to your face, shoulder, and leg is relatively shallow, only maybe a centimeter on your top half and three centimeters on the lower. Which is fortunate because your shoulder blade, ribs, and jaw bone were only grazed and not cleaved in half. He also wasn't able to hit any major organs or arteries."

Kakashi paused his explanation to turn back to her with a small jar and several rolls of fresh bandaging in one hand and a kunai twilling in the other.

"You shoulder muscles are frayed, but largely intact. However…your backside curves out a bit further, so the injury is much deeper there, probably closer to ten to twelve centimeters. In addition, the gluteus muscles don't run up and down like your hamstring, so they were total severed. Your shoulder and upper leg will recover relatively quickly and wouldn't keep you down for very long."

Her mind whirled through the basic anatomy she knew, hearing the silent 'but' hanging on the end of his sentence. "…but if the majority of my glutes were sliced, I probably won't be able raise my leg. Walking will be… difficult, at best."

_Damn it all to hell. That was listed as incapacitation method number seventy-three on the scroll Genma-senpai gave me. _Sakura thought, scowling at bitter irony.

Humming an affirmative, Kakashi gestured for her to raise her arms so he could remove his t-shirt dwarfing her small body, which she did begrudgingly, resigned to the fact that her sensei had already seen her naked.

He quickly pulled the shirt off and then kneeled to begin cutting away her saturated bandaging.

**I'm pleasantly surprised he hasn't been a pervert about all this.** Inner mused. **Not that we have anything worth ogling.**

Sakura mentally groaned and rolled her eyes._ He's our fucking sensei for Kami-sama's sake. Kakashi's at least twenty-five, which means he's at minimum thirteen years our senior. He might be a perv but he's not a fucking degenerate._

"If we were back in Konoha," he continued, oblivious to her mental conversation. "- or any other major city for that matter - it wouldn't be a big deal. We'd just drag you to the local hospital and the medic-nin on staff would put you back together in no time. Sadly for us, the local doctor was run off by Gato - not that he'd be likely have the skill to heal this this kind of damage if he was posted this far out in the boonies. Getting any closer to Kiri would be unwise. We have a treaty with them, but the Mist is notoriously well know for viciously _hating_ all foreign shinobi - even if we managed to make it to the actual city, they sure as hell wouldn't hesitate to slam the gate doors in our faces."

Setting the tangle of soiled bandaging to the side, Kakashi scooped a generous amount of green, herbal smelling goo from the jar and started smearing it up the back of her leg.

She twitched and hissed at the sting of the salve settling in.

"Stay still, Sakura-chan. It's a necessary evil to prevent infection." He chided. "The bleeding has stopped for now, but we'll have to wait until we get back home before you can be evaluated by a qualified med-nin for the muscle repair. I'll give you some exercises to keep your incision and any scar tissue supple so you'll be able to recover faster."

A scalding blush bloomed across Sakura's checks and she involuntarily squeaked as his hand travelled higher and applied another glob of the vile sludge over her backside.

_Kami-sama, this is mortifying!_

**You're being fucking ridiculous! Get ahold of yourself! We've already established the old geezer has zero fucking interest in your ass!**

_I know, I know. It's not like the academy didn't warn us that modesty wasn't something shinobi bothered with, but I didn't exactly expect to be standing bare-assed in front of my sensei five weeks after graduation! _She mentally hissed back.

**You wanted to be a shinobi, dammit, so fucking deal.**

"Sorry. It's been a long time since I had to get used to being in various states of undress around my teammates. Doesn't phase me now, but this can't exactly be the most comfortable thing for you."

"Do you keep the mask on? Around your teammates, I mean. And the medics." Sakura asked curiously, hoping to take her mind off his fingers traveling up her back and the sting of the salve.

"Often, yes." He shrugged. "Jonin don't regularly have the same teammates on missions, if they have any at all. There's only a handful of people who've seen me without it and I'd like to keep it that way."

She hummed, already well aware that if she inquired as to his ridiculous attachment to the black scrap of fabric he'd just give another false justification like he'd done every time one of the genin asked.

Sakura's nose wrinkled in distaste as the thick, sticky salve was applied down the side of her face, the strong, earthy smell burning her sinuses.

_Gross._

Once finished, Kakashi efficiently wrapped her back up and helped her into one of her tank tops and a loose pair of sweats.

Sakura cautiously tested her shoulder and rotated her arm in slow, increasingly large circles. The stitches pulled down the length of her back and she grimaced at the stabbing pain the movements generated, but Kakashi was true to his word and she found the joint had minimal loss of range of motion and she suspected it would only take a week or so for the majority of it to heal.

Her sensei's quiet cough pulled her attention back to him.

"Before we go meet up with the boys, I think we should take a few minutes to discuss the events on the bridge." Kakashi said.

Sakura's back stiffened at his words and she focused her gaze on the small sliver of bare cheekbone just above his mask, unable to meet his eye.

**Aw, shit. Here we go.**

Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and leaning back against the wall. "First - I'll start by saying that I'm proud of all three of you for the way you handled the situation. But I'm sure you're familiar with the protocol."

"Yes, sensei." She replied thickly, her mouth suddenly dry. "A field assessment is necessary after any student's first kill. It's performed by the team lead within twelve hours of the incident, unless extenuating circumstances make meeting such deadline impossible."

"Correct." He nodded. "I had hoped we wouldn't be having this conversation so soon… But you've proved far more competent than expected. By my count, you managed to not only make your _first_ kill but your first _four_."

**Senbon-to-the-eyeballs must have kicked the can.**

Her fingers twitched and she clasped her hands together to still them. "Yes, sensei." Sakura said quietly.

"Sasuke managed one and Naruto two… how does that make you feel - outpacing your teammates? Do you regret your actions? Reconsidering your choices?"

Her eyes snapped up to meet his lone gray eye - dark, cold, and observing her closely. Not the evaluating gaze of sensei, a teacher and mentor, but the unrelenting, critical stare of a team commander, a jonin superior, and an accomplished comrade in arms watching for any cracks that would shatter and make her unfit for Konoha's forces.

"No." Her voice was sharp and her shoulders squared firmly. "I have no regrets. The people I killed were in direct opposition of our mission to protect Tazuna-san and ensure the completion of the bridge. Either I was going to kill them or they me."

Kakashi raised a dark brow. "Hmm… And have you taken into consideration the consequences of an rookie genin bringing back the head of an S-rank missing-nin? Particularly one belonging to the Demon of the Hidden Mist."

_There's still a head?_ She thought, momentarily distracted and horrified.

**He wouldn't have let pussy-Uchiha to burn it. Gotta have some kind of evidence for the mission desk before they hand over the blood money.**

Sakura's stomach twisted, but she raised her chin defiantly in response to her sensei's provocation. "I did not seek Momochi Zabuza out. I returned an opponent's attack with equal lethality, as I did with others. W-Whether that will set certain… expectations of me is beyond my control… I am a kunoichi of Konoha first and foremost; the mission will always come before any personal consequences."

Kakashi's arms tightened across his chest and his eye narrowed.

For a second she thought he was angry with her response, but why would he be?

After a tense moment he just sighed heavily and scrubbed his hands through his already unruly hair.

"Given that Zabuza was being restrained by the ninken and my position as your genin-sensei, I will be listed as an assist for the kill. Because of the S-rank, you'll have a separate evaluation when we get back to the village."

He eyed her tiredly.

"I will request that it not be posted on the HQ notice board as normally done for bounty collections. But that will only postpone the information getting out until the next Bingo Book update at on October 1st. They listed the recently deceased in the back."

Sakura's blood ran cold. _Even with Kakashi listed as an assist, it'll be my name front and center on that bounty collection. Oh Kami-sama, all of the jonin and chunin will get a copy of that damnable book. _

**Great, then we have a little over four weeks before everyone starts assuming we're capable of taking on bat-shit crazy swordsmen.**

"I understand, Kakashi-sensei. Thank you." She replied numbly.

_We're so fucking screwed._

His mask wrinkled with a smile and his eye creased into a familiar crinkle. "No problem, Sakura-chan. Now why don't we go grab some grub, hmn? I'm sure the boys are comping at the bit for us to join them."

Sakura nearly stubbled at the sudden flip from cold, intimidating, serious jonin to the warm, lazy, easygoing sensei.

_Alrighty then. Welcome back, Dr. Hyde._

Inner nodded sagely.** Fucking crazy bastard.**

. _ . _ . _ .

After hobbling awkwardly - and painfully - to the kitchen table with Kakashi's assistance, Sakura spent the majority of lunch avoiding the visual kunai Sasuke was throwing her way and bushing off everyone else's concerned questions.

Yes, she would live. No, she wasn't going to have her leg amputated. Yes, the stitches itched like a bitch. No, she was not aware that she looked like a zombie, she hadn't exactly had the opportunity to look in a mirror, but thank you for that kind commentary Naruto.

"I bet you're gonna have a badass scar!" Inari yelled, leaping up to stand on his chair and throw an excited punch into the air. "No one messes with a ninja with badass scars!"

"Inari! Get down from there! And watch your language!" Tsunami scolded, exasperated.

Sakura froze, chopsticks halfway to her mouth.

"I have to pee." She said suddenly, pushing away from the table.

"Oh, I'll help you Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. "Uh… not with the peeing thing… but I can help you to the bathroom." He laughed sheepishly, scratching at the back of his head.

She only nodded and let him ease an arm around her waist so they could shuffle down the short hallway, their sensei's gaze burning into her back the whole way.

. _ . _ . _ .

She looked horrible.

Hands shaking and lips trembling, Sakura ran her eyes over the ghastly reflection staring back at her in the mirror.

The first thing that she noted were the sutures - dark, thin strands crawling up her face like tiny little spiders. They stood out against the green-gray of Kakashi's dried poultice and emphasized the pale, sallowness of her skin. But while they had a structured, medical look to them that she could have stomached, it was the raw ugliness of the bruises that made her catch her breath.

Spanning the majority of her face and neck - a dark purple encircling her eye and the right side of her nose and stretching from hairline down to just above her collarbone. When she tentatively reached up to touch her check, Sakura flinched at the deep ache.

All in all, Naruto's comparison of her to the walking dead wasn't far off.

A sudden flare of nausea had her gagging and rushing to the toilet to empty the contents of her stomach. Tears burned her eyes at the force of the heaving and silent tears slipped down her face, dipping onto quivering forearms.

_Kami-sama, I'm pathetic. _Sakura thought miserably, resting her throbbing head against the cold porcelain.

**Come on Haruno, get your ass back up. It's just a face. It'll heal. Inari's right, we'd look fucking badass with a scar. The motherfucker who did this is rotting in hell and we're not gonna give him the satisfaction of breaking us down.**

. _ . _ . _ .

Six days.

Sakura had been stuck in this _motherfucking_ house for _six days._

_Thump, thump, thump._ Three senbon hit their marks, piercing the anatomy scroll she had taped to the wall.

Heart. Lung. Jugular. All lethal, particularly in combination.

_Thump._ Liver. Extremely painful, but unlikely to be deadly with prompt medical attention.

_Thump, thump. Thump, thump._ Bilateral wrist and elbow. Enemy unable to wield weapons.

**Hmmm… I don't know about that last one. The boys have been known run around with a kunai in their teeth before. Doubt their dentist thanks them.**

_THUMP._ A frustrated throw had the last three senbon buried halfway up their lengths, clustered in a tight triangle between the drawing's eyes.

Skull impact. Frontal lobe. Requires chakra enhancement and multiple needles for success. Traditional kill shot.

"Sakura-chan, it's eight o'clock in the morning. You're setting Tsunami-san's teeth on edge and I'm afraid she's going to burn our breakfast. Let's try to limit the senbon throwing, hn?"

Huffing, she pushed herself up off the floor to hobble over and yank her weapons out of the wall.

"I don't suppose you have any other suggestions for keeping myself sane?" Sakura snipped, turning to regard her sensei.

He had yet to darn his flax jacket and the dark navy of his shirt was pulled taunt against the contours of his arms and chest. Kakashi was surprising well-built and lean without the bulky vest obscuring his physique.

**But I can totally see why it's part of the uniform.** Inner mused. **Besides the handy storage capacity, it makes killers-for-hire look a bit less threatening. Good for public relations.**

"I assume you've memorized Genma's scrolls?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Completed your stretching? Strengthening exercises?"

"Yes and yes." She rolled her eyes. "Even did them twice."

"Hmm…" Kakashi's eye regarded her skeptically. "Well… if everything goes to plan, we'll be able to leave tomorrow morning. But since I can't have you wrecking our host's home on the last day of our stay, I suppose you can borrow this."

Sakura's eyes lit up and she was quick to snatch the Bingo Book from his hand, running her fingers reverently over the worn spine. But she hesitated, eyes squinting up at him. "You're not going to lecture me?"

"Nope." He shrugged. "You're bounty collection habit seems to be limited to luck for now, so I see little point. Have fun. The boys and I will be back by dusk. Don't do anything stupid while we're gone."

She made a shooing motion with her hand, already intending to spend her day up in a tree, with the sun shining on her face and nose glued to the pages.

"Sure, sure. Thanks sensei. Have fun with the idiots."

That last comment earned her a chuckle, before Kakashi turned back to the kitchen and left her to re-familiarize herself with the little book.

. _ . _ . _ .

"No, absolutely not. I _refuse_." She crossed her arms and shook her head.

"Sakura-chan…" Kakashi sighed. "Either you get on or I'm going to summon Bull. You'll only risk further injury if you try to travel back to Konoha on your own."

**Ew, no. The last thing we need is to stink like dog.**

Just barely containing her frustration, Sakura cursed under her breath as she gave in and looped her arms around his neck.

"If I strangle you, it's your own damn fault." She grumbled.

"Man, I'm jealous Sakura-chan." Naruto whined as Kakashi passed off their packs to the boys. "My feet are going to be falling off by the time we set up camp."

"Weakling." Sasuke sneered at him.

"Enough. We haven't even left and you're already being annoying." Kakashi said sharply, gently wrapping his hands around her knees, careful of her injured leg. She cringed as the muscles and stitches pulled painfully, but was grateful that her position on her sensei's back impeded his view of her expression. He'd likely offer to hold her princess-style if he knew of her discomfort, but there was only so much her pride could take, so she kept silent.

Tsunami and Inari giggled at the team's squabbles.

"Thank you. All of you." Tazuna said, bowing deeply at the waist. "The bridge would never have been completed without your assistance."

The old man's gaze flicked up to her. "And I am truly sorry, Sakura-chan. You have my eternal gratitude for saving my life and my eternal guilt for the injury you received in the process. I will never be able repay that debt, but I will forward on the money for a completed A-rank mission for you and the rest of your team as soon as the funds become available."

"You have my thanks, Tazuna-san." She inclined her head, stomach twisting at the thought of taking his money but knowing it would be incredibly disrespectful to refuse the offer. "I hope that the bridge ensures that you, your family, and your village flourish."

A small smile flickered across his dark, wrinkled face. "May you have a safe journey home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Total Word Count: 4,596
> 
> A thousand apologies, my dear readers! I can assure you that I still receive your reviews and they bring a smile to my face every time one pops up in my in-box! You are truly the force that drives me to keep writing! ^_^
> 
> Much love,
> 
> Mistress-Kakashi
> 
> Please feel free to leave reviews!


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